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®iarp of a 3loutnep 

INTO 

NORTH WALES, 

IN THE YEAR 1774; 
BY 

SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 



EDITED, WITH ILLUSTRATIVE NOTES, 

By R. DUPPA, LL.B. 



BARRISTER AT LAW. 



LONDON: 
PRINTED FOR ROBERT JENNINGS, 2, POULTRY, 

BY JAMES MOYES, GREVIIAE STREET. 



M.DCCC.XVI. 



A 



V 



I 



TO 



, EDWARD SWINBURNE, Esq. 



From an uninterrupted intimacy of 
nearly twenty years, I claim the privi- 
lege of dedicating these pages to you. 

Dr. Johnson, for his moral and ethical 
writings, has been too long celebrated, 
to give his name any additional claim to 
your attention : but when you read his 
comparison of the beauties of Hawke- 
stone and Ham, you will perceive, 
perhaps for the first time, that he was 
equally interested in those beauties of 
nature which have so often delighted you, 
and which you have so often exquisitely 
represented. 



VI DEDICATION. 

This fragment, as a literary curiosity, 
I hope will not disappoint you; for 
although it may not contain any striking 
and important facts, or luminous pas- 
sages of fine writing, it cannot be unin- 
teresting to know how the mind of such 
a man as Johnson received new impres- 
sions, or contemplated for the first time, 
scenes and occupations unknown to him 
before. 

Accept, therefore, this gift from one 
who has great pleasure in subscribing 
himself 

Your sincere friend, 

E. DUPPA. 
Lincoln's Inn, 

Sept. 18, 1816. 



PREFACE. 



To publish whatever has fallen from the 
pen of a celebrated author, has been 
reckoned among the vices of our time ; but 
those who admire great or extraordinary 
qualities, have also a desire to know the 
individual to whom they belong, and to 
have his likeness, and his portrait, as if he 
were one of ourselves. 

This Journal of Dr. Johnson exhibits 
his mind when he was alone, when no one 
was looking on, and when no one was expect- 
ed to adopt his thoughts, or to be influenced 
by them : in this respect, it differs from the 
conversations and anecdotes already pub- 



Vlll PREFACE. 

lished : it has also another value, highly 
interesting, it shews how his mind was 
influenced by the impression of external 
things, and in what way he recorded those 
facts, which he laid up for future reflection. 
His " Journey to the Western Islands of 
Scotland," was probably composed from a 
diary not more ample : for of that work he 
says, " I deal more in notions than in 
facts :" and this is the general character of 
his mind ; though when Boswell expressed 
a fear, lest his journal should be encum- 
bered with too many minute particulars, he 
said, " There is nothing, sir, too little for 
so little a creature as man. It is by study- 
ing little things, that we attain the great art 
of having as little misery, and as much 
happiness, as possible." 

Dr. Johnson commenced his journey into 



PREFACE. - IX 

Wales, July 5, 1774, in company with Mr. 
and Mrs. Thrale, and their daughter, now 
Lady Keith, and returned August 25. 

On the same morning that he left 
Streatham, he wrote a letter to his friend, 
Ben net Langton, in which he informs him 
of this excursion, and of the state of his 
health. 

" I have just begun to print my Journey 
to the Hebrides, and am leaving the press, 
to take another journey into Wales, whither 
Mr. Thrale is going, to take possesion of at 
least five hundred a year, fallen to his 
lady. 

" I have never recovered from the last 
dreadful illness, but flatter myself that I 
grow better : much, however, yet remains 
to mend." 

In the prosecution of this tour, whatever 



X PREFACE. 

was his own gratification or disappointment, 
he appears but little to have gratified the 
curiosity of others ; for Boswell says, " I 
do not find that he kept any journal, or 
notes of what he saw in his tour in Wales. 
All that I heard him say of it was, that 
instead of bleak and barren mountains, there 
were green and fertile ones ; and that one 
of the castles in Wales would contain all 
the castles that he had seen in Scotland." 

This Diary, which is now for the first 
time presented to the public, will fill up 
that chasm in the Life of Johnson, which 
his biographer was unable to supply. 

For its authenticity, I will pledge myself: 
but if there should be any who are desirous 
to gratify their curiosity, or to satisfy their 
judgment, the original MS. in the hand- 
writing of Dr. Johnson, is in the possession 



PREFACE. XI 

of the publisher, where it may at any time 
be seen. 

The Editor acknowledges his obligation 
to Mrs. Piozzi, for her kind assistance 
in explaining many facts in this Diary, 
which could not otherwise have been 
understood. 



Error in page 40, for spots, read sports. 



CONTENTS. 



DR. JOHNSON S JOURNEY FROM STREATIIAM TO 
LLEWENNEY-HALL, IN DENBIGHSHIRE. 

Places he passed through, or visited, on the Way. 

Streatham, 1. Barnet, 2. Dunstable, 2. 
Lichfield, 2. Ham, 10. Oakover, 10. Chats- 
worth, 12. Matlock, 15. Ashbourn, 17- Dove- 
dale, 18. Hopton-Hall, 22. Kedleston, 23. 
Derby, 30. Buxton, and Pool's Hole, 31. 
Macclesfield, 32. Congleton, 33. Middlewich, 
33. Namptwich, 33. Combermere, 35. Sha- 
vington Hall, 3o\ Hawkestone, 38. Chester. 
16. Mold, 49. Llewenney, 49. 



XIV CONTENTS. 



Places visited by Dr. Johnson, during his stay at 
Llewenney. 

Bach y Graig, 51. St. Asaph, 55. Den- 
bigh, 58. Llannerch, 6?. Holywell, 69. Ru- 
thin Castle, 75. Bodryddan, 76. Gwaynynog, 
79' Maesraynnan, 87- 

Places through which Dr. Johnson passed, or visited, 
on his Return to London from Llewenney. 

Abergeley, 92. Penmaen Rhos, 93. Conway 
Ferry, 94. Penmaen Mawr, 96. Bangor, 98, 
117. Beaumaris, 99. Baron-Hill, 99. Caer- 
narvon, 102, 115. Bodville, 107. Brynodol, 107. 
Llanerk, 109. Pwllheli, 114. Llyn Badarn, 
and Llyn Beris, 115. Snowdon, 116. Gway- 
nynog, US, 122. Kefnamwycllh, 118. Con- 
way, 120. Wrexham, 125. Chirk Castle, 125. 



CONTENTS; XV 

Llanrhaiadr, 125. Oswestry, 127. Shrewsbury, 
129- Wenlock, 130. Bridgenorth, 131. Hartle- 
bury, 132. Ombersley, 132. Worcester, 132. 
Hagley, 134. Leasowes, 138. Birmingham, 
140. Woodstock, 142. Blenheim, 143. Ox- 
ford, 14o\ Beaconsfield, 148. London, Bolt- 
court f 149. 

Opinions and Observations, by Dr. John- 
son, 150. 

Appendix. — The character of Mrs. Lucy 
Porter, Dr. Johnson's step-daughter, 157. Some 
account of Mrs. Elizabeth Aston, lo*l. Some 
account of Dr. Taylor, 16*4. A Description 
of Dovedale, 167. A description of a Roman 
Hypocaust at Chester, 171. An account 
of what Dr. Johnson liked best at table, by 
Mrs. Thrale, 174. General Paoli's first Inter- 
view with Dr. Johnson, 176. On recollecting 



[■' 



XVI CONTENTS. 

past times, 180. On Early Printing, 181. The 
character of Coulson, of University College, 
Oxford, drawn by Johnson, in the Rambler, 
under the character of Gelidus, the philosopher, 
184. 

Itinerary, 189. 



ERRATA. 

The note on the Chapel at Oakover, page 16, belongs to 

note i, page 38. 
Page 33, in a note, for " in which it is held," read " in 

which they are held." 

86, for vtf&£Tuw&v, read vuSerutov. 

■ 92, at the top of the page, for August 16, read 18. 




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r 






JOURNEY 



INTO 



NORTH WALES, 



THE YEAR 1774. 



July 5, Tuesday. 

We left Streatham a 11a. m. Streatham, 

Price of 4 horses 2s. a mile. 



a A village in Surry about six miles from 
London ; the residence of Mr. Thrale. 
During the life of Mr. Thrale, his house 
B 



2 



A JOURNEY INTO 



Barnet. 



Lichfield. 



Barnet 1 . 40'. p. m. 

On the road I read Tully's Epistles. 

At night at Dunstable. 

To Lichfield, 83 miles. 

To the Swan b . 



was the resort of the most eminent and 
distinguished characters of his time. Here 
Johnson was domesticated, and Garrick, 
and Goldsmith, and Burke, and Sir Joshua 
Reynolds, were often found. 

b When at this place Mrs. Thrale gives 
an anecdote of Johnson, to shew his minute 
attention to things which might reasonably 
have been supposed out of the range of his 
observation. " When I came down to 
breakfast at the inn, my dress did not 



NORTH WALES. 



To the Cathedral. 



please him, and he made me alter it 
entirely before he would stir a step with 
us about the town, saying most satirical 
things concerning the appearance I made 
in a riding-habit ; and adding, ' Tis very 
strange that such eyes as yours cannot 
discern propriety of dress : if I had a sight 
only half as good, I think I should see to 
the centre.' " 

Johnson has contrived to introduce the 
city of Lichfield into his Dictionary of the 
English Language, from its having been 
the place of his birth. " Liclifield, the 
field of the dead, a city in Staffordshire, so 



A JOURNEY INTO 



To Mrs. Porter's . 
To Mrs. Aston s d . 



named from martyred Christians. Sake 
magna parens," 

c Mrs. Lucy Porter. A step-daughter 
to Dr. Johnson. Her brother, a captain 
in the navy, had left her a fortune of ten 
thousand pounds; about a third of which 
she laid out in building a stately house, 
and making a handsome garden, in an 
eleyated situation in Lichfield. Johnson, 
when he visited Lichfield alone, lived at her 
house. She reverenced him, and he had a 
parental tenderness for her. Appendix 1. 

d Mrs. Elizabeth Aston. A daughter of 
Sir Thomas Aston. She lived at Stow Hill, 
an eminence adjoining to Lichfield. App. 2. 



NORTH WALES. 5 

To Mr. Greens'. 
Mr. Greens Museum was much 
admired, and 

Mr. Newton's f china. 



• Mr. Richard Green was an apothecary, 
and related to Dr. Johnson. He had a 
considerable collection of antiquities, na- 
tural curiosities, and ingenious works of 
art. He had all the articles accurately- 
arranged, with their names upon labels, 
and on the staircase leading to it was a 
board, with the names of contributors mark- 
ed in gold letters. A printed catalogue 
of the collection was to be had at a book- 
seller's. 

f Mr. Newton was a gentleman, long 
resident in Lichfield, who had acquired 
a large fortune in the East Indies. 



6 A JOURNEY INTO 



3. 



To Mr. Newton's. To Mrs. 
Cobb's g . 



s Mrs. Cobb was a widow lady wbo lived 
at a place called the Friary, close to Lichfield. 
She was a great admirer of Johnson, though 
it would seem, if Miss Seward's statement 
be correct, he had but little admiration for 
her. " Mrs. Cobb knows nothing, has 
read nothing ; and where nothing is put 
into the brain, nothing can come out of it 
to any purpose of rational entertainment." 
Miss Seward, however, observes, that 
although she was illiterate, her understand- 
ing was strong, her perceptions quick, her 
wit shrewd, comic, sarcastic, and original. 



NORTH WALES. 7 

Dr. Darwin's 11 . I went again to 
Mrs. Aston's. She was very sorry 
to part. 



h Dr. Erasmus Darwin; at this time he 
lived at Lichfield, where he had practised 
as a Physician from the year 1756, and did 
not settle at Derby till after his second 
marriage with Mrs. Pool, in the year 1781. 

Miss Seward says, that although Dr. 
Johnson visited Lichfield while Dr. Darwin 
lived there, they had only one or two 
interviews, and never afterwards sought 
each other. Mutual and strong dislike 
subsisted between them: Dr. Darwin died 
April 18, 1802, in the sixty-ninth year of 
his age. 



A JOURNEY INTO 



Breakfasted at Mr. Garrick's 
Visited Miss Vyse\ 



1 This gentleman was Mr. Peter Garrick, 
brother to David Garrick, and bore a striking 
resemblance to him. Johnson speaking of 
him to Boswell says : " Sir, I don't know 
but if Peter had cultivated all the arts of 
gaiety as much as David has done, he might 
have been as brisk and livety. Depend 
upon it, sir, vivacity is much an art, and 
depends greatly on habit." 

k A daughter of the Rev. Arch-Deacon 
Vyse, of the Diocese of Lichfield and 
Coventry. 



NORTH WALES. 9 ' 

Miss Seward 1 . 
Went to Dr. Taylor's" 1 . 
I read a little on the road in 
Tully's Epistles and Martial. 

1 Miss Seward was the daughter of the 
Rev. Thomas Seward, Canon-Residentiary 
of the Cathedral of Lichfield. Six volumes 
of letters by this lady, published since 
her death, have put the public in full 
possession of the kind of intimacy, or 
friendship which subsisted between her 
and Dr. Johnson. 

m Dr. Taylor of Ashbourne in Derbyshire. 
Dr. Johnson's old friend and schoolfellow; 
of whom he said, — " He is better acquainted 
with my heart than any man or woman now 
living." A pp. 3. 



10 A JOURNEY INTO 

Mart. 8th, 44, lino pro limo n . 

10. 

Morning, at Church. Company 
at dinner. 

11. 

Ham. At Ham. At Oakover. I was 

less pleased with Ham than when 



n The verse in Martial is 
" Defluat, et lento splendescat turbida limo," 

The epigram is addressed to Flaccus, and 
in the common editions of Martial it has 
the number 45, and not 44. 



NORTH WALES. 11 

I saw it first, but my friends were 
much delighted . 

° Ham is the celebrated residence of Mr. 
Porte at the entrance of Dovedale. Not- 
withstanding Johnson was less pleased with 
his second visit to 11am than the first, yet 
he has in this diary given very ample proof 
that he enjoyed its beauties. 

In July, 1777, Dr. Johnson took Boswell 
to see this place, which would seem to be 
the third time, at least, that he had been 
there ; and this is the account Boswell gives 
of the visit. " I recollect a very fine 
amphitheatre, surrounded with hills, co- 
vered with woods, and walks neatly 
formed along the side of a rocky steep, on 
the quarter next the house, with recesses 



12 A JOURNEY INTO 



12. 



Chatsworth. At Chatsworth. The Water wil- 

low. The cascade, shot out from 



under projections of rock, overshadowed 
with trees ; in one of which recesses, we 
were told, Congreve wrote his " Old 
Bachelor." We viewed a remarkable 
natural curiosity at Ham ; two rivers burst- 
ing near each other from the rock, not from 
immediate springs, but after having run 
for many miles under ground. Plott, in 
his " History of Staffordshire," gives an 
account of this curiosity ; but Johnson 
would not believe it, though we had the 
attestation of the gardener, who said, he 



NORTH WALES. 13 

many spouts. The fountains. The 
water tree. The smooth floors in 
the highest rooms. Atlas, fifteen 
hands inch and half p . 

River running through the park. 
The porticoes on the sides support 
two galleries for the first floor. 



had put in corks, where the river Manyfold 
sinks into the ground, and had catched 
them in a net, placed before one of the 
openings where the water bursts out. 

p This was a race-horse, which was very 
handsome and very gentle, and attracted 
so much of Dr. Johnson's attention, that 
lie said ; " of all the Duke's possessions, I 
Jike Atlas best." 



14 A JOURNEY IKTO 

My friends were not struck with 
the house. It fell below my ideas 
of the furniture. The staircase is 
in the corner of the house. The 
Hall in the corner, the grandest 
room, though only a room of pas- 
sage. 

On the ground-floor, only the 
chapel and the breakfast-room, and 
a small library; the rest, servants' 
rooms and offices q . 

A bad Inn. 



* This is the second time Johnson had 
visited Chatsworth. He saw it, Nov. 26, 
1772; and in a letter to Mrs. Thrale he 



NORTH WALES. 15 

13. 

At Matlock. 

14. 
At dinner at Oakover ; too deaf Oakover. 



says, " Chatsworth is a very fine house. I 
wish you had been with me to see it; for 
then, as we are apt to want matter of talk, 
we should have gained something new to 
talk on. They complimented me with 
playing the fountain, and opening the 
cascade. But I am of my friend's opinion, 
that when one has seen the ocean, cascades 
are but little things." 



16 A JOURNEY INTO 

to hear, or much converse r . Mrs. 
Gell. 

The chapel at Oakover*. The 
wood of the pews grossly painted. 
I could not read the epitaph. 
Would learn the old hands. 



r Dr. Johnson's hearing was very defec- 
tive, and a cold made him too deaf to enjoy 
society. In a letter to Mrs. Thrale, Sept. 
14, 1773, he says, " I have a cold, and am 
miserably deaf:" and on the 21st he says, 
** I am now too deaf to take the usual 
pleasure in conversation." 

s This chapel is at Burleydam in 
Cheshire, close to Combermere, built by 
Sir Lynch Salusbury Cotton, Mrs. Thrale's 
uncle. 



NORTH WALES. 17 

15. 

At Ashbourn. Mrs. Diot and AsKbourn: 
her daughters came in the morning. 
Mrs. Diot dined with us. We 
visited Mr. Flint. 

To ir^u\ov Mo/po?, to &t ctvltpov eTAsv Epacrpco?, 
To loilov at ftAmrtjv rippa. MivuXAof tyii x % 

t " From the Muses, Sir Thomas More 
bore away the first crown, Erasmus the 
second, and Micyllus has the third." 

Jacobus Micyllus ; whose real name was 
Melcher, died 1558, aged 55. In the MS. 
Johnson has introduced ypev by the side of 
eTafv, as if he were doubtful whether that 
tense ought not to have been adopted. 
c 



18 A JOURNEY INTO 

16. 

Dovedale. At Dovedale, with Mr. Langley 

and Mr. Flint. It is a place that 
deserves a visit ; but did not answer 
my expectation. The river is small, 
the rocks are grand. Reynard's 
Hall is a cave very high in the 
rock; it goes backward several 
yards, perhaps eight. To the left 
is a small opening, through which I 
crept, and found another cavern, 
perhaps four yards square; at the 
back was a breach yet smaller, 
which I could not easily have 
entered, and, wanting light, did not 
inspect. 



NORTH WALES. 19 

I was in a cave yet higher, 
called Reynard's Kitchen. There 
is a rock called the Church, in 
which I saw no resemblance that 
could justify the name". 

Dovedale is about two miles 
long. We walked towards the head 
of the Dove, which is said to rise 
about five miles above two caves 
called the Dog-holes, at the foot of 
Dovedale. 

In one place, where the rocks 



u This rock is supposed rudely to resem- 
ble a tower ; hence, it has been called the 
Church. 



20 A JOURNEY INTO 

approached, I proposed to build 
an arch from rock to rock over 
the stream, with a summer-house 
upon it. 

The water murmured pleasantly 
among the stones. 

I thought that the heat and 
exercise mended my hearing. I 
bore the fatigue of the walk, which 
was very laborious, without incon- 
venience. 

There were with us Gilpin w and 



w Mr. Gilpin was an accomplished youth, 
at this time an undergraduate at Oxford. 
His father was a silversmith in London. 



NORTH WALES. 21 

Parker*. Having heard of this 
place before, I had formed some 
imperfect idea, to which it did 
not answer. Brown says he was 
disappointed. I certainly expected 
a large river where I found only 
a clear quick brook. I believe I 
had imaged a valley enclosed by 
rocks, and terminated by a broad 
expanse of water. 

He that has seen Dovedale has 
no need to visit the Highlands 7 . 



x John Parker, of Brownsholme, in Lan- 
cashire, Esq. 

* Mr. Whateley, who visited Dovedale at 
this time, has given a finished description 



2% A JOURNEY INTO 

In the afternoon we visited old 
Mrs. Dale 2 . 

17. 

Sunday morning, at church — Ka3v 
Afternoon, at Mr. Diot's. 

18. 
Dined at Mr. Gell's*. 

of it, and he felt the beauties of nature, and 
described them better, than any author I 
am acquainted with. See App. 4. 

z Mrs. Dale was at this time 93 years of 
age. 

a Mr. Gell, of Hopton Hall, a short dis- 
tance from Carsington, in Derbyshire ; the 



NORTH WALES. 23 

19. 

We went to Kedleston b to see Kedleston. 
Lord Scarsdale's new house, which 
is very costly, but ill contrived. 



Father of Sir William Gell, well known 
for his topography of Troy, and other 
literary works; horn 1775. " July 12, 
1775, Mr. Gell is now rejoicing, at fifty- 
seven, for the birth of an heir-male." — Dr. 
Johnson to Mrs. Thrale. 

b In the year 1777 Dr. Johnson and 
Boswell visited Kedleston together: and it 
is interesting to compare Boswell's account 
with this which is written by Johnson 



24 . A JOURNEY INTO 

The Hall is very stately, lighted by 
three skylights ; it has two rows of 
marble pillars, dug, as I hear from 
Langley, in a quarry of Northamp- 



himself when he visited it three years before 
that time. 

" Friday, September 19, after breakfast, 
Dr. Johnson and I set out in Dr. Taylor's 
chaise to go to Derby. The day was fine, 
and we resolved to go by Kedleston, the 
seat of Lord Scarsdale, that I might see 
his Lordship's fine house. I was struck 
with the magnificence of the building ; and 
the extensive park, with the finest verdure, 
covered with deer, and cattle, and sheep, 
delighted me. The number of old oaks, of 



NORTH WALES. 25 

tonshire ; the pillars are very large 
and massy, and take up too 
much room ; they were better 
away. Behind the Hall is a circular 



an immense size, filled me with a sort of 
respectful admiration : for one of them 
sixty pounds was offered. The excellent 
smooth gravel roads ; the large piece of 
water formed by his Lordship from some 
small brooks, with a handsome barge upon 
it; the venerable Gothick church, now the 
family chapel, just by the house ; in short, 
the grand group of objects agitated and 
distended my mind in a most agreeable 
manner. " One should think (said I) that 
the proprietor of all this must be happy." — 



£6 A JOURNEY INTO 

saloon, useless, and therefore ill 
contrived. 

The corridors that join the wings 
to the body are mere passages 



" Nay, sir, (said Johnson,) all this excludes 
but one evil — poverty.'' 

" Our names were sent up, and a well- 
drest elderly housekeeper, a most distinct 
articulator, shewed us the house. Dr. John- 
son thought better of it to-day, than when he 
saw it before* ; for he had lately attacked it 
violently, saying, " It would do excellently 
for a town-hall. The large room with the 
pillars (said he) would do for the Judges to 



* This relates to the time when this Diary was 
made. 



NORTH WALES. 27 

through segments of circles. The 
state bedchamber was very richly 
furnished. The dining parlour was 
more splendid with gilt plate than 



sit in at the assizes ; the circular room for a 
jury-chamber; and the room above for 
prisoners." Still he thought the large room 
ill lighted, and of no use but for dancing in; 
and the bed-chambers but indifferent rooms ; 
and that the immense sum which it cost 
was injudiciously laid out. Dr. Taylor had 
put him in mind of his appearing pleased 
with the house. " But (said he) that was 
when Lord Scarsdale was present. Polite- 
ness obliges us to appear pleased with a 
man's works when he is present. No man 



28 A JOURNEY INTO 

any that I have seen. There were 
many pictures. The grandeur was 
all below. The bedchambers were 
small, low, dark, and fitter for a 



will be so ill bred as to Question you. You 
may therefore pay compliments without 
saying what is not true. I should say to 
Lord Scarsdale of his large room, ' My 
Lord, this is the most costly room that I 
ever saw ;' which is true." 

Dr. Manningham, physician in London, 
who was visiting at Lord Scarsdale's, 
accompanied us through many of the 
rooms, and soon afterwards my Lord him- 
self, to whom Dr. Johnson was known, 
appeared, and did the honours of the house. 



NORTH WALES. 29 

prison than a house of splen lour. 
The kitchen has an opening into 
the gallery, by which its heat and 
its fumes are dispersed over the 
house. There seemed in the whole 
more cost than judgment. 



We talked of Mr. Langton. Johnson, with 
a warm vehemence of regard, exclaimed, 
" The earth does not bear a worthier man 
than Bennet Langton." We saw a good 
many fine pictures. — We were shown a 
pretty large library. In his Lordship's 
dressing-room lay Johnson's small Diction- 
ary : he shewed it to me with some eager- 
ness, saying, " Look'ye! Qncc regio in terris 
nostri non plena laboris" He observed, 



30 A JOURNEY INTO 

Derby. We went then to the silk mill at 

Derby, where I remarked a parti- 
cular manner of propagating motion 
from a horizontal to a vertical 
wheel. 

We were desired to leave the men 
only two shillings. Mr. Thrale's 
bill at the inn for dinner was 
eighteen shillings and tenpence. 

At night I went to Mr. Langley's. 
Mrs. Wood's. Captain Astle, &c. 



also, Goldsmith's " Animated Nature ;" and 
said, " Here's our friend ! The poor 
Doctor would have been happy to hear of 
this." 



NORTH WALES. 31 



20. 



We left Ash bourn and went to Buxton. 
Buxton, thence to Pool's Hole, 
which is narrow at first, but then 
rises into a high arch ; but is so 
obstructed with crags, that it is 
difficult to walk in it. There are 
two ways to the end, which is, 
they say, six hundred and fifty 
yards from the mouth. They take 
passengers up the higher way, and 
bring them back the lower. The 
higher way was so difficult and 
dangerous, that, having tried it, 
I desisted. I found no level 
part. 



32 A JOURNEY INTO 

Macclesfield. At night we came to Maccles- 

field, a very large town in Cheshire, 
little known. It has a silk mill : it 
has a handsome church, which, 
however, is but a chapel, for the 
town belongs to some parish of 
another name , as Stourbridge 
lately did to Old Swinford. 

Macclesfield has a town-hall, and 
is, I suppose, a corporate town*. 



c The parish of Prestbury. 

d The Corporation consists of twenty- 
four aldermen, and has such rights and 
privileges as commonly appertain to cor- 
porate towns. 



NORTH WALES. 



33 






We came to Congleton, where Congleton. 
there is likewise a silk mill. Then 
to Middlewich, a mean old town, Middlewich. 
without any manufacture, but, I 
think, a Corporation. Thence we 
proceeded to Namptwich, an old Namptwich. 
town : from the Inn, I saw scarcely 
any but black timber houses. I 
tasted the brine water, which con- 
tains much more salt than the sea 
water*. By slow evaporation, they 



e Sea water, in its natural state, is but a 
weak brine; but its saltness varies in different 
seas, and at different depths. In the Baltic, 
the proportion of common salt, and other 
saline ingredients, to the water in which it 



34 A JOURNEY INTO 

make large crystals of salt; by 
quick boiling, small granulations. 
It seemed to have no other pre- 
paration. 

is held in solution, is as one to forty ; in the 
British Channel, as one to thirty; and at a 
great depth near the Equator, as one to 
twenty-three : but the average may be 
estimated as one to twenty-eight. The 
brine in our salt works undergoes a pro- 
cess which is called graduation, by which 
its strength is greatly increased before it 
is submitted to evaporation. The colour 
of salt ought to be of a delicate blue- 
whiteness; any approach to yellow shews 
that the brine has been contaminated by 
the presence of iron. 



NORTH WALES. 35 

At evening we came to Comber- Combermere. 
mere f , so called from a wide lake. 



22. 



We went up the Mere. I pulled 
a bulrush of about ten feet 8 . I 



f At this time the seat of Sir Lynch 
Salusbury Cotton, now, of Lord Comber- 
mere, his grandson, from which place he 
takes his title. It is situated in Cheshire, 
twenty-two miles from Shrewsbury. 

* Great Cats'-tail, or Reed-mace. The 
Typha latifo/ia of Linnaeus. — See Classes and 
Orders of'Linnaus, vol. iii. p. 434. 



36 A JOURNEY INTO 

saw no convenient boats upon the 
Mere. 



23. 



Shavington. We visited Lord Kilmorey's 

house. It is large and convenient, 
with many rooms, none of which 
are magnificently spacious \ The 
furniture was not splendid. The 



h This house, which is called Shavington 
Hall, is in Shropshire^ twenty-one miles 
from Shrewsbury, and, like Wrottesley 
Hall in the adjoining county, is said 



NORTH WALES. $7 

bed-curtains were guarded. Lord 
Kilmorey shewed the place with 
too much exultation. He has no 
Park, and little water. 



24. 



We went to a chapel, built by 
Sir Lynch Cotton for his tenants. 
It is consecrated, and therefore, I 
suppose, endowed. It is neat and 
plain. The communion plate is 

to have as many windows, doors, and 
chimnies, as correspond in number to 
the days, weeks, and months, in a 
year. 



38 A JOURNEY INTO 

handsome. It has iron pales and 
gates of great elegance, brought 
from Lleweney, " for Robert has 
laid all open 1 ." 
Hawkestone. We saw Hawkestone, the seat of 

Sir Rowland Hill k , and were con- 
ducted by Miss Hill over a large 
tract of rocks and woods ; a region 



1 This remark has reference to family 
conversation. Robert was the eldest son 
of Sir Lynch Salusbury Cotton, and lived 
at Lleweney at this time. 

k Now belonging to Sir John Hill, Bart, 
father of Lord Hill. It is twelve miles 
from Shrewsbury. 



NORTH WALES. 39 

abounding with striking scenes and 
terrific grandeur. We were always 
on the brink of a precipice, or at 
the foot of a lofty rock ; but the 
steeps were seldom naked : in many 
places, oaks of uncommon magni- 
tude shot up from the crannies of 
stone ; and where there were no 
trees, there were underwoods and 
bushes. 

Round the rocks is a narrow 
path cut upon the stone, which is 
very frequently hewn into steps ; 
but art has proceeded no further 
than to make the succession of 
wonders safely accessible. The 
whole circuit is somewhat labo- 



40 A JOURNEY INTO 

rious; it is terminated by a grotto 
cut in the rock to a great extent, 
with many windings, and supported 
by pillars, not hewn into regularity, 
but such as imitate the spots of 
nature, by asperities and protuber- 
ances. 

The place is without any damp- 
ness, and would afford an habitation 
not uncomfortable. There were 
from space to space seats cut out 
in the rock. Though it wants 
water, it excels Dovedale by the 
extent of its prospects, the awful- 
ness of its shades, the horrors of 
its precipices, the verdure of its 
hollows, and the loftiness of its 



NORTH WALES. 41 

rocks: the ideas which it forces 
upon the mind are, the sublime, 
the dreadful, and the vast. Above 
is inaccessible altitude, below is 
horrible profundity. But it excels 
the garden of Ham only in extent. 

Ham has grandeur, tempered with 
softness ; the walker congratulates 
his own arrival at the place, and 
is grieved to think he must ever 
leave it. As he looks up to the 
rocks, his thoughts are elevated ; 
as he turns his eyes on the vallies, 
he is composed and soothed. 

He that mounts the precipices 
at Ilawkestone, wonders how he 



42 A JOURNEY INTO 

came thither, and doubts how he 
shall return. His walk is an 
adventure, and his departure an 
escape. He has not the tran- 
quillity, but the horrors, of soli- 
tude; a kind of turbulent pleasure, 
between fright and admiration. 

Ham is the fit abode of pastoral 
virtue, and might properly diffuse 
its shades over Nymphs and Swains. 
Hawkestone can have no fitter inha- 
bitants than giants of mighty bone 
and bold emprise 1 ; men of lawless 



1 Paradise Lost, book xi. v. 642, 



NORTH WALES. 43 

courage and heroic violence. Hawke- 
stone should be described by Milton, 
and Ham by ParneP. 



m It ought to be remembered, that John- 
son has already said that he was less pleased 
with Ham on this second visit than when 
he first saw it; and yet, in 1777, three 
years subsequent to the time when this 
account was written, he still continued to 
have the same admiration for its beauties: 
and what Boswell says upon this subject 
is the more interesting, as he was wholly 
ignorant of the existence of this diary, 
which was written in 1774. 

" Dr. Johnson obligingly proposed to 
carry me to see Ham, a romantic scene, 
now belonging to a family of the name of 



44 A JOURNEY INTO 

Miss Hill shewed the whole 
succession of wonders with great 
civility. The house was magni- 
ficent, compared with the rank of 
the owner. 



Porte, but formerly the seat of the Con- 
greves. Johnson described it distinctly and 
vividly, at which I could not but express to 
him my wonder ; because, though my eyes, 
as he observed, were better than his, I could 
not by any means equal him in representing 
visible objects. I said, the difference be- 
tween us in this respect was as that between 
a man who has a bad instrument, but plays 
well on it, and a man who has a good 
instrument, on which he can play very 
imperfectly." 



NORTH WALES. 45 



26. 



We left Combermere, where 
we have been treated with great 
civility. 

The house is spacious, but not 
magnificent ; built at different times, 
with different materials ; part is of 
timber, part of stone or brick, 
plastered and painted to look like 
timber. It is the best house that 
I ever saw of that kind. 

The Mere, or Lake, is large, 
with a small island, on which 
there is a summer-house, shaded 



46 A JOURNEY INTO 

with great trees ; some, were hollow, 
and have seats in their trunks 11 . 
Chester. In the afternoon we came to 

West- Chester ; (my father went 
to the fair, when I had the small- 
pox). We walked round the walls, 
which are compleat, and contain 
one mile three quarters, and one 



n Cornbermere stands on the site of an 
old Abbey of Benedictine Monks, which 
was founded 1133; and, about the year 
1540, at the dissolution of the monasteries, 
was granted, with a great part of the estates 
of the Abbey, to George Cotton, Esq , an 
ancestor of the present Lord Combermere. 



NORTH WALES. 47 

hundred and one yards ; within 
them are many gardens : they are 
very high, and two may walk very 
commodiously side by side. On 
the inside is a rail. There are 
towers from space to space, not 
very frequent, and, I think, not 
all compleat. 



The library, which is forty feet by twenty- 
seven, is supposed to have been the refec- 
tory. The Lake, or Mere, is about three 
quarters of a mile long, but of no great 
width; it is skirted with woods, and from 
some situations it has the appearance of a 
river. 



48 A JOURNEY INTO 



27. 



We staid at Chester and saw 
the Cathedral, which is not of the 
first rank. The Castle. In one of 
the rooms the Assizes are held, and 
the refectory of the Old Abbey, of 
which part is a grammar school. 
The master seemed glad to see me. 
The cloister is very solemn ; over it 
are chambers in which the singing 
men live. 

In one part of the street was a 
subterranean arch, very strongly 
built ; in another, what they called, 



NORTH WALES. 49 

I believe rightly, a Roman hypo- 
caust . 

Chester has many curiosities. 

28. 

We entered Wales, dined at Mold, 
Mold p , and came to Lle\veney q . 



c See App. 5. 

p Mold is a small market town, consist- 
ing principally of one long and wide street. 

* Lleweney Hall, as I have already ob- 
served, was the residence of Robert Cotton, 
Esq. Mrs. Thrale's cousin german. Here 
Mr. and Mrs. Thrale and Dr. Johnson 

E 



50 A JOURNEY INTO 

Lleweney. We were at Lleweney. 

In the lawn at Lleweney is a 
spring of fine water, which rises 
above the surface into a stone 

staid three weeks, making visits and 
short excursions in the neighbourhood 
and surrounding country. Pennant gives 
this description of its situation. " Lleweney 
lies on a flat, has most pleasing views of the 
mountains on each side of the vale, and 
the town and castle of Denbigh form most 
capital objects at the distance of two miles." 
It now belongs to Mr. Hughes of KinmeJ, 
who lately purchased it, with the estate, for 
£. 150,000. 



NORTH WALES. 51 

basin, from which it runs to waste, 
in a continual stream, through a 
pipe. 

There are very large trees. 

The HaH at Llevveney is forty feet 
long, and twenty-eight broad. The 
gallery one hundred and twenty feet 
long, (all paved.) The Library forty- 
two feet long, and twenty-eight 
broad. The Dining-parlours thirty- 
six feet long, and twenty-six broad. 

It is partly sashed, and partly 
has casements. 

30. 

We went to Bach y Graig, where BAchyGrai; 
we found an old house, built 1567, 



52 A JOURNEY INTO 

in an uncommon and incommodi- 
ous form. .My Mistress chattered 
about cleaning", but I prevailed on 
her to go to the top. The floors 
have been stolen : the windows are 
stopped. 

The house was less than I seemed 



r Bach y Graig had been die residence 
of Mrs. Thrale's ancestors for several gene- 
rations ; but her father did not live there, 
and it fell to decay, and on this visit 
Mrs. Thrale found it very dirty, particularly 
the stairs, and she required some persuasion 
to go up, but was at last prevailed upon. 
My Mistress , was Johnson's familiar epithet 
for Mrs. Thrale. 



NORTH WALES. 53 

to expect; the river Clwyd is a 
brook with a bridge of one arch, 
about one third of a mile. 

The woods have many trees, 
generally young; but some, which 
seem to decay*. They have been 



• From a letter to Mrs. Thrale, Sept. 13, 
1777, Johnson would seem to imply, that 
Wales had only these woods to attract the 
attention of a stranger. " Boswell wants 
to see Wales; but except the woods of 
Bach y Graig, what is there in Wales, that 
can fill the hunger of ignorance, or quench 
the thirst of curiosity ?" Had he been 
writing to Boswell, instead of Mrs. Thrale, 
he would probably have been told, that in 



54 A JOURNEY INTO 

lopped. The house never had a 
garden. The addition of another 
story would make an useful house, 
but it cannot be great. Some build- 
ings which Clough, the founder, 
intended for warehouses, would 
make store-chambers and servants' 
rooms*. The ground seems to be 
good. I wish it well. 

Scotland there was little else to make an 
impression on the traveller, but high hills, 
which, by constantly bounding the view, 
forced the mind to find entertainment for 
itself, in contemplating hopeless sterility, 
or useless vegetation. 

* Pennant gives a description of this 



NORTH WALES. 55 

31 

We went to church at St. Asaph. St. Asaph. 
The Cathedral, though not large, 
has something of dignity and gran- 
deur. The cross aisle is very short 



house, in a tour he made into North Wales 
in 1780. 

" Not far from Dymerchion, lies half 
buried in woods the singular house of 
Bach y Graig. It consists of a mansion of 
three sides, enclosing a square court. The 
first consists of a vast hall and parlour : the 
rest of it rises into six wonderful stories, 
including the cupola ; and forms from the 
second floor the figure of a pyramid : the 



56 A JOURNEY INTO 

It has scarcely any monuments. 
The Quire has, I think, thirty-two 
stalls of antique workmanship. On 
the backs were Canonicus, Pre- 
bend, Cancellarius, Thesau- 
rarius, Precentor. The con- 



rooms are small and inconvenient. The 
bricks are admirable, and appear to have 
been made in Holland; and the model of 
the house was probably brought from Flan- 
ders, where this kind of building is not 
unfrequent. It was built by Sir Richard 
Clough, an eminent merchant, in the reign 
of Queen Elizabeth. The initials of his 
name are in iron on the front, with the date 
1567, and on the gate-way 1569. 



NORTH WALES. 57 

stitution I do not know, but it has 
all the usual titles and dignities. 
The service was sung only in the 
Psalms and Hymns. 

The Bishop was very civil". "We 
went to his palace, which is but 
mean. They have a library, and 
design a room. There lived Lloyd w 
and Dodwell. 



n The Bishop at this time was Dr. Ship- 
Joy, father to the present Dean of St. Asaph. 
Upon another occasion, when he dined in 
company with Dr. Shipley, he said he was 
I'nozci/ig arid conversible. Their difference in 
politics would hardly admit of more praise 
from Johnson. 

* Lloyd was raised to the See of St. 



58 a journey into 

August 1. 

Denbigh. We visited Denbigh, and the 

remains of its Castle. 

The Town consists of one main 
street, and some that cross it, which 
I have not seen. The chief street 
ascends with a quick rise for a 



Asaph in 1680. He was one of the seven 
Bishops who were sent to the Tower in 
1688, for refusing to permit the publication 
of the royal declaration for liberty of con- 
science, and was a zealous promoter of the 
Revolution. He died Bishop of Worcester, 
August 30, 1717, at 91 years of age. 

Dodwell was a man of extensive learning, 
and an intimate friend of Lloyd, and, 



NORTH WALES. 59 

great length : the houses are built, 
some with rough stone, some with 
brick, and a few of timber. 

The Castle, with its whole enclo- 
sure, has been a prodigious pile ; it 
is now so ruined, that the form of 
the inhabited part cannot easily be 
traced. 

There are, as in all old buildings, 



like him, a great friend to the Revolution. 
He also entertained religious opinions which 
were, for the greater part of his life, incon- 
venient to him: but when he became an 
old man, his reason prevailed over those 
scruples, which his skill in controversy, in 
the vigour of his life, had given more im- 
portance to than they deserved. 



60 A JOURNEY INTO 

said to be extensive vaults, which 
the ruins of the upper works cover 
and conceal, but into which boys 
sometimes find a way. To clear all 
passages, and trace the whole of 
what remains, would require much 
labour and expense. We saw a 
Church, which was once the Chapel 
of the Castle, but is used by the 
Town : it is dedicated to St. Hilar v, 
and has an income of about — 

At a small distance is the ruin of 
a Church said to have been begun by 
the great Earl of Leicester*, and 



x By Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, 
in 1579. He died Sept. 4, 1588, 



NORTH WALES. 6\ 

left unfinished at his death. One 
side, and I think the east end, are 
yet standing. There was a stone in 
the wall, over the door- way, which 
it was said would fall and crush the 
best scholar in the diocese. One 
Price would not pass under it. 
They have taken it down. 

We then saw the Chapel of 
Lleweney, founded by one of the 
Salusburies : it is very compleat: the 
monumental stones lie in the ground. 
A chimney has been added to it, but 
it is otherwise not much injured, and 
might be easily repaired 7 . 

f The late Sir Robert Salusbury Coltoa 
had no taste for antiquity of any kind ; and 



62 A JOURNEY INTO 

Denbigh. We went to the parish Church of 

Denbigh, which, being near a mile 
from the town, is only used when 
the parish officers are chosen. 

In the Chapel, on Sundays, the 
service is read thrice, the second 
time only in English, the first and 
third in Welsh. 

The Bishop came to survey the 
Castle, and visited likewise St. Hila- 
ry's Chapel, which is that which the 
town uses. The hay-barn, built with 



this Chapel was not regarded by him as 
being in any respect better than a barn, 
or fit for any other purpose ; and the 
present proprietor applies it to that use. 



NORTH WALES. 65 

brick pillars from space to space, 
and covered with a roof. A more 
elegant and lofty Hovel. 

The rivers here, are mere torrents 
which are suddenly swelled by the 
rain to great breadth and great 
violence, but have very little con- 
stant stream ; such are the Clwyd 
and the Elwy*. There are yet no 



2 Here we see Johnson simply describ- 
ing the character of these streams; and this 
description is interesting when compared 
with a passage in his Journey to the 
Western Islands, where the same facts 
become important from the language in 
which they are given. 

" We passed many rivers and rivulets, 



64 A JOURNEY INTO 

mountains. The ground is beauti- 
fully embellished with woods, and 
diversified with inequalities. 

In the parish church of Denbigh 
is a bas relief of Lloyd the antiquary, 



which commonly ran with a clear shallow 
stream over a hard pebbly bottom. These 
channels, which seem so much wider than 
the water that they convey would naturally 
require, are formed by the violence of 
wintry floods, produced by the accumu- 
lation of innumerable streams that fall in 
rainy weather from the hills, and burst- 
ing away with resistless impetuosity, make 
themselves a passage proportionate to their 



NORTH WALES. 65 

who was before Camden. He is 
kneeling at his prayers*. 



We rode to a summer-house 
of Mr. Cotton, which has a very 
extensive prospect ; it is meanly 
built, and unskilfully disposed 5 . 



a Humphry Llwyd was a native of Den- 
bigh, and practised there as a physician, 
and also represented the town in Parlia- 
ment. He died 1568, aged 41. 

b This summer-house is in the grounds 
belonging to Lleweney, and their ride to 
F 



66 A JOURNEY INTO 

Dymerchion. We went to Dymerchion church c , 

where the old clerk acknowledged 
his Mistress. It is the parish 
church of Bach y Graig d . A 
mean fabric : Mr. Salusbury e was 
buried in it. Bach y Graig has 
fourteen seats in it. 



it was to see the prospect ; the situation 
commands a very beautiful view. 

Dymerchion is three miles from St. 
Asaph. 

d Bach y Graig is the name of one of 
three townships of the parish of Dymer- 
chion. 

e Mrs. Thrale's father. 



NORTH WALES. 67 

As we rode by, I looked at the Llannerch. 
house again. We saw Llannerch, 
a house not mean, with a small 
park very well watered. There 
was an avenue of oaks, which, in 
a foolish compliance with the pre- 
sent mode, has been cut down. A 
few are yet standing. The owner's 
name is Davies f . 

The way lay through pleasant 
lanes, and overlooked a region 
beautifully diversified with trees 
and grass. 



f Robert Davies, Esq. At his house 
there was an extensive library. 



68 A JOURNEY INTO 

At Dymerchion church there is 
English service only once a month. 
This is about twenty miles from the 
English border. 

The old Clerk had great appear- 
ance of joy at the sight of his 
Mistress, and foolishly said, that 
he was now willing to die. He 
had only a crown given him by 
my Mis tress 8 . 



s In the MS. in Dr. Johnson's hand- 
writing, he has first entered in his diary, 
" The old Clerk had great appearance of 
joy at seeing his Mistress, and foolishly 
said that he was now willing to die:" he 



NORTH WALES. 69 

- At Dymerchion church the texts 
on the walls are in Welsh. 



3. 



We went in the coach to Holy- Holywell, 
well. 



afterwards wrote in a separate column, on 
the same leaf, under the head of notes and 
omissions, " He had a crown;" and then he 
appears to have read over his diary at a 
future time, and interlined the paragraph 
with the words " only" — " given him by 
my Mistress," which is written in ink of a 
different colour. This shews that he read 
his diary over after he wrote it, and that 



70 A JOURNEY INTO 

Talk with Mistress 11 about flattery *. 

Holywell is a market town, neither 
very small nor mean. The spring 
called Winifred's Well is very clear, 

where his feelings were not accurately 
expressed, he amended them. 

h Mrs. Thrale. 

1 Johnson had no dislike to those com- 
mendations which are commonly imputed 
to flatteiy. Upon one occasion he said to 
Mrs. Thrale, " What signifies protesting 
so against flattery! when a person speaks 
well of one, it must be either true or false, 
you know : if true, let us rejoice in his 
good opinion ; if he lies, it is a proof at 
least that he loves more. to please me, than 



tfORTH WALES. 71 

and so copious, that it yields one 
hundred tuns of water in a minute. 
It is all at once a very great stream, 
which, within perhaps thirty yards 
of its eruption, turns a mill, and in 



to sit silent when he need say nothing. 
Though I like flattery, a little too much 
always disgusts me : that fellow, Richard- 
son, on the contrary, could not be content 
to glide quietty down the stream of reputa- 
tion, without longing to taste the froth from 
every stroke of the oar." 

" The difference between praise and flat- 
tery is the same as between that hospitality 
that sets wine enough before the guest, and 
that which forces him to drink." 



1% A JOURNEY I&TO 

a course of two miles, eighteen mills 
more. In descent, it is very quick. 
It then fails into the sea. The well 
is covered by a lofty circular arch, 
supported by pillars; and over this 
arch is an old chapel, now a school. 
The chancel is separated by a wall. 
The bath is completely and inde- 
cently open. A woman bathed 
while we all looked on. 

In the church, which makes a 
good appearance, and is surrounded 
by galleries to receive a numerous 
congregation, we were present while 
a child was christened in Welsh. 

We went down by the stream to 
see a prospect, in which I had no 



NORTH WALES. 73 

part. We then saw a brass work, 
where the lapis calaminaris is 
gathered, broken, washed from the 
earth and the lead, though how the 
lead was separated I did not see; 
then calcined, afterwards ground 
fine, and then mixed by fire with 
the copper. 

We saw several strong fires with 
melting pots, but the construction 
of the fire-places I did not learn. 

At a copper- work which receives 
its pigs of copper, I think, from 
Warrington, we saw a plate of 
copper put hot between steel rollers, 
and spread thin : I know not whe- 
ther the upper roller was set to a 



74 A JOURNEY INTO 

certain distance, as I suppose, or 
acted only by its weight. 

At an iron-work I saw round 
bars formed by a knotched hammer 
and anvil. There I saw a bar of 
about half an inch, or more, square 
cut with shears worked by water, 
and then beaten hot into a thinner 
bar. The hammers all worked, as 
they were, by water, acting upon 
small bodies, moved. very quick, as 
quick as by the hand. 

I then saw wire drawn, and gave 
a shilling. I have enlarged my 
notions, though not been able to 
see the movements ; and having 
not time to peep closely, I knew 



NORTH WALES. 75 

less than I mig;ht. I was less 

weary, and had better breath, as I 
walked farther. 



Ruthin Castle is still a very noble Ruthin 
ruin ; all the walls still remain, so 
that a compleat platform, and eleva- 
tions, not very imperfect, may be 
taken. It encloses a square of 
about thirty yards. The middle 
space was always open. 

The wall is, I believe, about 
thirty feet high, very thick, flanked 
with six round towers, each about 



76 A JOURNEY INTO 

eighteen feet, or less, in diameter. 
Only one tower had a chimney, 
so that there was commodity of 
living. It was only a place of 
strength. The garrison had, per- 
haps, tents in the area. 

Stapylton's house is pretty k : 
there are pleasing shades about 



k The name of this house is Bodryddan ; 
formerly the residence of the Stapyltons, 
the parents of five co-heiresses, of whom 
Mrs. Cotton, afterwards Lady Salusbury 
Cotton, was one; but in the year 1774, it 
was the residence of Mr. Shipley, Dean 
of St. Asaph, who still lives there. 



NORTH WALES. 77 

it, with a constant spring that 
supplies a cold bath. We then 
went to see a Cascade. 

I trudged unwillingly, and was 
not sorry to find it dry. The 
water was, however, turned on, 
and produced a very striking cata- 
ract. They are paid an hundred 
pounds a year for permission to 
divert the stream to the mines. 
The river, for such it may be 
termed, rises from a single spring, 
which, like that of Winifred's, is 
covered with a building. 

We called then at another house 
belonging to Mr. Lloyd, which 



78 A JOURNEY INTO 

made a handsome appearance. 
This country seems full of very 
splendid houses. 

Mrs. Thrale lost her purse. She 
expressed so much uneasiness, that 
I concluded the sum to be very 
great; but when I heard of only 
seven guineas, I was glad to find 
that she had so much sensibility of 
money. 

I could not drink this day either 
coffee or tea after dinner. I know 
not when I missed before. 

5. 

Last night my sleep was remark- 



NORTH WALES. 79 

ably quiet. I know not whether by 
fatigue in walking, or by forbear- 
ance of tea. 

I gave the ipecacuanha. Vin. 
emet. had failed; so had tartar 
emet. 

I dined at Mr. Myddleton's, of Gwaynynog. 
Gwaynynog. The house was a 
gentleman's house, below the second 
rate, perhaps below the third, built 
of stone roughly cut. The rooms 
were low, and the passage above 
stairs gloomy, but the furniture was 
good. The table was well supplied, 
except that the fruit was bad. It 
was truly the dinner of a country 



80 A JOURNEY INTO 

gentleman 1 . Two tables were filled 
with company, not inelegant. 

After dinner, the talk was of 
preserving the Welsh language. I 



1 Johnson affected to be a man of very 
nice discernment in the art of cookery. 
Boswell observes, upon one occasion he 
alarmed a lady, at whose house he was to 
sup, by this declaration of his skill : " I, 
madam, who live at a variety of good 
tables, am a much better judge of cookery, 
than any person who has a very tolerable 
cook, but lives much at home; for his 
palate is gradually adapted to the taste of 
his cook ; whereas, madam, in trying by a 



"NORTH WALES. 81 

offered them a scheme. Poor Evan 
Evans was mentioned, as incorrigi- 
bly addicted to strong drink. Wash- 
ington was commended. Myddleton 
is the only man, who, in Wales, 
has talked to me of literature. - 1 
wish he were truly zealous. I re- 
commended the republication of 
David ap Rhees's Welsh Grammar. 



wider range, I can more exquisitely judge." 
When invited to dine, even with an inti- 
mate friend, he was not pleased if some- 
thing better than a plain dinner was not 
prepared for him.-— App. 6\ 

G 



82 



A JOURNEY INTO 



Two sheets of Hebrides came to 
me for correction to-day, F. G." 



2a3\ ty. I corrected the two 
sheets. My sleep last night was 
disturbed. 

Washing at Chester and here, 
5s. Id. 



n F. G. are the printer's signatures, by 
which it appears that at this time five sheets 
had already been printed. The MS. was 
sent to press June 11th. — BoswelPs Life of 
Dr. Johnson, vol. ii. p. 288. 



NORTH WALES. 83 

I did not read. 

I saw to-day more of the out- 
houses at Lleweney. It is, in the 
whole, a very spacious house. 



I was at church at Bodfari. 
There was a service used for a sick 
woman, not canonically, but such 
as I have heard, I think, formerly at 
Lichfield, taken out of the visita- 
tion. Ka3". fAtlgutiq. 

The church is mean, but has a 
square tower for the bells, rather 
too statelv for the church. 



84 A JOURNEY INTO 

OBSERVATIONS. 

Dixit injustus, Ps. 36, has no 
relation to the English. 

Preserve us, Lord, has the name 
of Robert Wisedome, 1618. — Bar- 
kers Bible. 

Battologiam ab iteratione, recte 
distinmiit Erasmus. — Mod. Or audi 

o 

Deum, p. 56 — 144. 

Southwell's Thoughts of his own 
Death. 

Baudius on Erasmus". 

n This work, which Johnson was now 
reading, was, most probably, a little book, 



NORTH WALES. 85 



8. 



The Bishop and much company 
dined at Lleweney . Talk of 
Greek — and the Army. The Duke 



entitled Baudi Epistola, as, in his Life of 
Milton, he has made a quotation from it. 
Speaking of Milton's religious opinions, 
when he is supposed to have vacillated 
between Calvinism and Arminianism, he 
observes, " What Baudius says of Erasmus 
seems applicable to him, magis habuit quod 
fugeret quarn quod sequeretur" 

During Johnson's stay at this place, 
Mrs. Thrale gives this trait of his character. 



86 A JOURNEY INTO 

of Marlborough's officers useless. 
Read Phocylidis p , distinguished the 
paragraphs. I looked in Leland : 
an unpleasant book of mere hints q . 



" When we went into Wales together, and 
spent some time at Mr. Cotton's at Lleweney, 
one day at dinner, I meant to please Mr. 
Johnson particularly, with a dish of very 
young peas. ' Are not they charming ?' said 
I to him, while he was eating them. 
* Perhaps they would be so — to a pig. 9 
This is given only as an instance of the 
peculiarity of his manner, and which had 
in it no intention to offend. 

p The title of the poem is Uoiyi/jux. vhSetixow. 
* Leland's Itinerary, published by Thomas 



NORTH WALES. 87 

Lichfield School, ten pounds; 
and five pounds from the Hospital. 

10. 

At Lloyd's, of Maesmynnan; a Maesmynn 
good house, and a very large 
walled garden. I read Windus's Ac- 
count of his Journey to Mequinez, 
and of Stewart's Embassy r . I had 



Hearne, in nine very thin octavo volumes, 
1710. 

' This book is entitled, " A Journey to 
Mequinez, the Residence of the present 
Emperor of Fez and Morocco, on the 



§8 A JOyRNET INTO 

read in the morning Wasse's Greek 
Trochaics to Bentley. They appear 
inelegant, and made with difficulty. 
The Latin Elegy contains only 
common-place, hastily expressed, 
so far as I have read, for it is long. 
They seem to be the verses of a 
scholar, who has no practice of 
.writing. The Greek I did not 
.always fully understand. I am in 
doubt about sixth and last para- 
graphs, perhaps they are not printed 
right, for eutoxov perhaps hro^ov. q? 

Occasion of Commodore Stewart's Embassy 
thither, for the Redemption of the British 
"Captives, in the Year 1721." 8vo. 



NORTH WALES. 89 

The following days I read here 
and there. The Bibliotheca Literaria 
was so little supplied with papers 
that could interest curiosity, that it 
could not hope for long conti- 
nuance*. Wasse, the chief contri- 
butor, was an unpolished scholar, 
who, with much literature, had no 
art or elegance of diction, at least 
in English. 

14. 

At Bodfari I heard the second 

* The Bibliotheca Literaria was publish- 
ed in London, 1722-4, in 4to. numbers, but 
only extended to ten numbers. 



90 A JOURNEY INTO 

lesson read, and the sermon preach- 
ed in Welsh. The text was pro- 
nounced both in Welsh and English. 
The sound of the Welsh, in a 
continued discourse, is not un- 
pleasant. 

Bgoo<ri$ oXiyy* x^S". ex.. (p. 

The letter of Chrysostom, against 
transubstantiation. Erasmus to the 
Nuns, full of mystic notions and 
allegories. 

15. 
KaS-. Imbecillitas genuum non 

t By this expression it would seem, that 
on this day Johnson ate sparingly. 



NORTH WALES. 91 

sine aliquantulo doloris inter ambu- 
landum, quem a prandio magis 



u " A weakness of the knees, not with- 
out some pain in walking, which I feel 
increased after I have dined." 

Throughout this Diary, when Johnson is 
obliged to turn his thoughts to the state of 
bis health, he always puts his private 
memoranda in the learned languages ; as 
if to throw a slight veil over those ills 
which he would willingly have hid from, 
himself. 

The day after this memorandum was 
made, he wrote a letter to his medical 
friend, Mr. Robert Levet. 



9? A JOURNEY INTO 



16. 



We left Lleweney, and went for- 
wards on our journey. 
Abergeley. - v^e came to Abergeley, a mean- 



" To Mr. Robert Levet. 

" Lleweney, in Denbighshire, 
August 16, 17f4. 
" DEAR SIR, 

" Mr. Thrale's affairs have kept him 
here a great while, nor do T know exactly 
when we shall come hence. I have sent 
you a bill upon Mr. Strahan. 

" I have made nothing of the ipeca- 



"NORTH WALES. 93 

town, in which little but Welsh is 
spoken, and divine service is seldom 
performed in English. 

Our way then lay to the sea-side, Penmaen 
at the foot of a mountain, called 
Penmaen Rhos. Here the way 



cuanha, but have taken abundance of pills, 
and hope that they have done me good. 

" Wales, so far as I have yet seen of it, 
is a very beautiful and rich country, all 
enclosed and planted. Denbigh is not a 
mean town. Make my compliments to all 
my friends, and tell Frank I hope he 
remembers my advice. When his money 
is out, let him have more. I am, Sir, 
" Your humble servant, 

" Sam. Johnson/* 



94* A JOURNEY INTO 

was so steep, that we walked on the 
lower edge of the hill, to meet the 
coach, that went upon a road higher 
on the hill. Our walk was not long, 
nor unpleasant : the longer I walk, 
the less I feel its inconvenience. 
As I grow warm, my breath mends, 
and I think my limbs 'grow pliable. 
Conway We then came to Conway Ferry, 

and passed in small boats, with 
some passengers from the stage 
coach, among whom were an Irish 
gentlewoman, with two maids, and 
three little children, of which, the 
youngest was only a few months old. 
The tide did not serve the large 
ferry-boat, and therefore our coach 
could not very soon follow us. We 



NORTH WALES. 95 

were, therefore, to stay at the Inn. 
It is now the day of the Race at 
Conway, and the town was so full 
of company, that no money could 
purchase lodgings. We were not 
very readily supplied with cold din- 
ner. We would have staid at 
Conway if we could have found 
entertainment, for we were afraid of 
passing Penmaen Mawr, over which 
lay our way to Bangor, but by 
bright daylight, and the delay of 
our coach, made our departure 
necessarily late. There was, how r - 
ever, no stay on any other terms, 
than of sitting up all night. 

The poor Irish lady was still 



96 A JOURNEY INTO 

more distressed. Her children 
wanted rest. She would have been 
contented with one bed, but, for a 
time, none could be had. Mrs. 
Thrale gave her what help she 
could. At last two gentlemen were 
persuaded to yield up their room, 
with two beds, for which she gave 
half a guinea. 

Penmaen Our coach was at last brought, 

Mavvr. , . 

and we set out with some anxiety, 

but we came to Penmaen Mawr by 

daylight ; and found a way, lately 

made, very easy, and very safe w . • 

w Penmaen Mawr, is a huge rock, rising 
nearly 1550 feet perpendicular above the 



&ORTH WALES. 97 

It was cut smooth, and enclosed 
between parallel walls ; the outer 
of which, secures the passenger 
from the precipice, which is deep 
and dreadful. This wall is here and 
there broken, by mischievous wan- 
tonness. The inner wall preserves 
the road from the loose stones, 
which the shattered steep above it 



sea. Along a shelf of this precipice, is 
formed an excellent road, well guarded, 
toward the sea, by a strong wall, supported 
in many parts by arches turned underneath 
it. Before this wall was built, travellers 
sometimes fell down the precipices. 
H 



98 A JOURNEY INTO 

would pour down. That side of the 
mountain seems to have a surface of 
loose stones, which every accident 
may crumble. The old road was 
higher, and must have been very 
formidable. The sea beats at the 
bottom of the way. 
Bangor. At evening the moon shone emi- 

nently bright; and our thoughts of 
danger being now past, the rest of 
our journey was very pleasant. At 
an hour somewhat late, we came to 
Bangor, where we found a very 
mean inn, and had some difficulty 
to obtain lodging. I lay in a room, 
where the other bed had two men. 



NORTH WALES. 



99 



19. 



We obtained boats to convey us 
to Anglesey, and saw Lord Bulke- 
ley's House, and Beaumaris Castle. 

I was accosted by Mr. Lloyd, 
the Schoolmaster of Beaumaris, 
who had seen me at University 
College ; and he, with Mr. Roberts, 
the Register of Bangor, whose boat 
we borrowed, accompanied us. 
Lord Bulkeley's house is very mean, 
but his garden is spacious, and 
shady with large trees and smaller 
interspersed. The walks are straight, 
and cross each other, with no variety 



100 A JOURNEY INTO 

of plan; but they have a pleasing 

coolness, and solemn gloom, and 

extend to a great length x . 

Beaumaris The Castle is a mighty pile ; the 

Castle. 

outward wall has fifteen round 

towers, besides square towers at the 



x Baron Hill, is the name of Lord Bulke- 
ley's house; which is situated just above 
the town of Beaumaris, at the distance of 
| of a mile, commanding so fine a view of 
the sea, and the coast of Caernarvon, that 
it has been sometimes compared to Mount 
Edgecombe, in Devonshire. Lord Lytt el- 
ton, speaking of the house and gardens, 
says, — " The house is a bad one, but the 
gardens are made in a very fine taste." 



#ORTH WALES. 101 

angles. There is then a void space 
between the wall and the Castle, 
which has an area enclosed with 
a wall, which again has towers, 
larger than those of the outer 
wall. The towers of the inner 
Castle are, I think, eight. There 
is likewise a Chapel entire, built 
upon an arch as I suppose, .and 
beautifully arched with a stone 
roof, which is yet unbroken. The 
entrance into the Chapel is about 
eight or nine feet high, and was, 
I suppose, higher, when there was 
no rubbish in the area. 

This Castle corresponds with all 
the representations of romancing 



102 A JOURNEY INTO 

narratives. Here is not wanting 
the private passage, the dark 
cavity, the deep dungeon, or the 
lofty tower. We did not discover 
the Well. This is the most com- 
pleat view that I have yet had of 
an old Castle. It had a moat. 

The Towers. 

We went to Bangor. 

20. 

We went by water from Bangor 
to Caernarvon, where we met Paoli y 



y General Pasquale de Paoli, the distin- 
guished patriot of Corsica, who, after all 



NORTH WALES. 103 

and Sir Thomas Wynne 2 . Meeting 
by chance with one Trough ton a , an 
intelligent and loquacious wanderer, 
Mr. Thrale invited him to dinner. 
He attended us to the Castle, an 



his exertions failed to render his native 
country any service, retired to England 
in 1769, and died in London Feb. 5, 1807, 
in the eighty-second year of his age. — See 
Johnsons first interview with him. App. 7. 

2 Sir Thomas Wynne, created Lord New- 
borough, July 14, 1776. Died October 12, 
1807. Father to tbe present Lord New- 
borough. 

* This gentleman was a lieutenant in the 

Navy. 



104 A JOURNEY INTO 

edifice of stupendous magnitude and 
strength ; it has in it all that we 
observed at Beaumaris, and much 
greater dimensions : many of the 
smaller rooms floored with stone 
are entire ; of the larger rooms, 
the beams and planks are all left : 
this is the state of all buildings left 
to time. We mounted the Eagle 
Tower by one hundred and sixty- 
nine steps, each of ten inches \ 



b Johnson, as appears in the course of 
this Diary, often amused himself with 
minute computation, and this was much 
the habit of his mind. In a letter to 



NORTH WALES. 105 

We did not find the Well ; nor 
did I trace the Moat; but moats 
there were, I believe, to all castles 
on the plain, which not only hindered 
access, but prevented mines. We 
saw but a very small part of this 
mighty ruin, and in all these old 



Mrs. Thrale, Oct. 6, 1777, he says, 
u Mr. Langton bought at Nottingham 
fair fifteen ton of cheese ; which, at an 
ounce a-piece, will suffice after dinner for 
four hundred and eighty thousand men." 
At another time he says, " Nothing amuses 
more harmlessly than computation, and 
nothing is oftener applicable to real busi- 
ness or speculative inquiries." 



106 A JOURNEY INTO 

buildings, the subterraneous works 
are concealed by the rubbish. 

To survey this place would take 
much time: I did not think there 
had been such buildings ; it sur- 
passed my ideas. 



21 



We were at church ; the service 
in the town is always English ; at 
the parish church at a small dis- 
tance, always Welsh. The town 
has by degrees, I suppose, been 
brought nearer to the sea side. 

We received an invitation to 
Dr. W T orthington. We then went 



NORTH WALES. 107 

to dinner at Sir Thomas Wynne's, 
— the dinner mean, Sir Thomas 
civil, his Lady nothing. Paoli 
civil. 

We supped with Colonel Wynne's 
Lady, who lives in one of the towers 
of the Castle. 

I have not been very well. 

22. 

We went to visit Bodville, the Bodville. 
place where Mrs. Thrale was born, 
and the churches called Tydweilliog 
and Llangwinodyl, which she holds 
by impropriation. 

We had an invitation to the Bryn o dol. 



108 A JOURNEY INTO 

house of Mr. Griffiths of Bryn o 
dol, where we found a small neat 
new built house, with square rooms : 
the walls are of unhewn stone, and 
therefore thick; for the stones not 
fitting with exactness, are not strong 
without great thickness. He had 
planted a great deal of young wood 
in walks. Fruit trees do not thrive ; 
but having grown a few years, reach 
some barren stratum and wither. 

We found Mr. Griffiths not at 
home ; but the provisions were 
good. Mr. Griffiths came home 
the next day. He married a lady 
who has a house and estate at 
, over against Anglesea. 



NORTH WALES. 



109 



and near Caernarvon, where she 
is more delighted, as it seems, to 
reside than at Bryn o dol. 

I read Lloyds account of Mona, 
which he proves to be Anglesea. 

In our way to Bryn o dol, we 
saw at Llanerk a Church built 
crosswise, very spacious and magni- 
ficent for this country. We could 
not see the Parson, and could get 
no intelligence about it. 



Llanerk. 



24. 



We went to see Bodville. Mrs. Bodville. 
Thrale remembered the rooms, and 
wandered over them with recollec- 



110 A JOURNEY INTO 

tion of her childhood. This species 
of pleasure is always melancholy. 
The walk was cut down, and the 
pond was dry. Nothing was better . 
We surveyed the Churches, 
which are mean, and neglected to 
a degree scarcely imaginable. They 
have no pavement, and the earth 
is full of holes. The seats are 
rude benches ; the Altars have no 
rails. One of them has a breach 
in the roof. On the desk, I think, 
of each lay a folio Welsh Bible of 
the black letter, which the curate 



Jpp. 8. 



NORTH WALES. Ill 

cannot easily read d . Mr. Thrale 
purposes to beautify the Churches, 
and if he prospers, will probably 

d In this tour, Mrs. Thrale records an 
anecdote of the ignorance of a clergyman 
in Wales, which, upon this occasion, was 
very probably in Johnson's mind. 

" A Welsh parson of mean abilities, 
though a good heart, struck with reve- 
rence at the sight of Dr. Johnson, whom 
he had heard of as the greatest man 
living, could not find any words to an- 
swer his inquiries concerning a motto 
round somebody's arms which adorned 
a tomb-stone in Ruabon* churchyard. 

* Ruabon is also written Rhia Abon. It is a very 
considerable vicarage, within four miles of Wrexham. 



112 A JOURNEY INTO 

restore the tithes. The two parishes 
are, Liang winodyl* and Tydweilliog 6 . 

If I remember right, the words were, 

Heb Dw, Heb Dym, 
Dw o' diggon. 

And though of no very difficult construc- 
tion, the gentleman seemed wholly con- 
founded, and unable to explain them ; 
till Mr. Johnson, having picked out the 
meaning by little and little, said to the 
man, ' Heb is a preposition, I believe, 
sir, is it not?' My countryman recover- 
ing some spirits upon the sudden question, 
cried out, " So I humbly presume, sir," 
very comically. 

' These two parishes are perpetual cura- 
cies, endowed with the small tithes, which 



NORTH WALES. 113 

The Methodists are here very pre- 
valent. A better church will im- 
press the people with more reve- 
rence of public worship. 



in 1809 amounted to six pounds sixteen 
shillings and sixpence in each parish; but 
these sums are increased by Queen Ann's 
bounty; and in 1809 'th"e~whdle income 
for Llangwinodyl, including surplice fees, 
amounted to forty-six pounds two shillings 
and twopence, and for Tydweilliog, forty- 
three pounds nineteen shillings and ten- 
pence; so that it does not appear that 
Mr. Thrale carried into effect his good 
intention. 

I 



114 A JOURNEY INTO 

Mrs. Thrale visited a house 
where she had been used to drink 
milk, which was left, with an 
estate of two hundred pounds 
a year, by one Lloyd f , to a 
married woman who lived with 
him. 
Pwllheli. We went to Pwllheli, a mean 



* Mr. Lloyd was a very good-natured 
man ; and when Mrs. Thrale was a little 
child, he was used to treat her with 
sweetmeats and milk; but what was now 
remarkable was, that she should recollect 
the house, which she had not seen since 
she was five years old. 



ttORTH WALES. 



115 



old town, at the extremity of the 
country. Here we bought some- 
thing, to remember the place. 

25. 

We returned to Caernarvon, where Caernarvon, 
we ate with Mrs. Wynne. 



26. 



We visited, with Mrs. Wynne, LlynBadam. 
Llyn Badarn and Llyn Beris, two Lly n Beds, 
lakes, joined by a narrow strait. 
They are formed by the waters 
which fall from Snowdon, and the Snowdon. 
opposite mountains. On the side 



116 A JOURNEY INTO 

of Snowdon are the remains of a 
large fort, to which we climbed 
with great labour. I was breath- 
less and harrassed. The Lakes 
have no great breadth, so that 
the boat is always near one bank 
or the other. 

Note. Queeny's goats, one hun- 
dred and forty-nine, I think *. 



s Mr. Thrale was near-sighted, and could 
not see the goats browsing on Snowdon, 
and he promised his daughter, who was a 
child of ten years old, a penny for every 
goat she would shew him, and Dr. Johnson 
kept the account; so that it appears her 
father was in debt to her one hundred and 



NORTH WALES. 117 

27. 

We returned to Bangor, where Bangor. 
Mr. Thrale was lodged at Mr. 
Robert's, the Register. 



We went to worship at the 
Cathedral. The quire is mean, 
the service was not well read. 



forty-nine pence. Queeny was the epithet, 
which had its origin in the nursery, by 
which Miss Thrale was always distinguished 
by Johnson. 



118 A JOURNEY INTO 



29- 



Gwaynynog. We came to Mr. Mydd el ton's, of 

Gwaynynog, to the first place, as 
my Mistress h observed, where we 
have been welcome. 

Note. On the day when we 
visited Bodville, we turned to the 
house of Mr. Griffiths, of Kefnam- 
wycllh, a gentleman of large fortune, 
remarkable for having made great 
and sudden improvements in his 
seat and estate. He has enclosed 
a large garden with a brick wall. 



h Mrs. Thrale. 



NORTH WALES. ] 19 

He is considered as a man of great 
accomplishments. He was educated 
in literature at the University, and 
served some time in the army, then 
quitted bis commission, and retired 
to his lands. He is accounted a 
good man, and endeavours to bring 
the people to church. 

In our way from Bangor to 
Conway, we passed again the new 
road upon the edge of Penmaen 
Mawr, which would be very tre- 
mendous, but that the wall shuts 
out the idea of danger. In the 
wall are several breaches, made, 
as Mr. Thrale very reasonably 
conjectures, by fragments of rocks 



120 A JOURNEY INTO 

which roll down the mountain, 
broken perhaps by frost, or worn 
through by rain. 
Conway. We then viewed Conway. 

To spare the horrors at Pen- 
maen Rhos, between Conway and 
St. Asaph, we sent the coach over 
the road cross the mountain with 
Mrs. Thrale, who had been tired 
with a walk sometime before; and 
I, with Mr. Thrale and Miss, 
walked along the edge, where the 
path is very narrow, and much 
encumbered by little loose stones, 
which had fallen down, as we 
thought, upon the way since we 
passed it before. 



NORTH WALES. 121 

At Conway we took a short Conway 

Castle, 
survey of the Castle, which afforded 

us nothing new. It is larger than 
that of Beaumaris, and less than 
that of Caernarvon. It is built 
upon a rock so high and steep, 
that it is even now very difficult 
of access. We found a round pit, 
which was called the Well ; it is 
now almost filled, and therefore 
dry. We found the Well in no 
other Castle. There are some 
remains of leaden pipes at Caer- 
narvon, which, I suppose, only 
conveyed water from one part of 
the building to another. Had the 
Garrison had no other supply, the 



122 A JOURNEY INTO 

Welsh, who must know where the 
pipes were laid, could easily have 
cut them. 

29. 

Gwaynynog. We came to the house of Mr. 

Myddelton, (on Monday,) where 
we staid to September 6, and were 
very kindly entertained. How we 
spent our time, I am not very able 
to tell 1 . 



1 However this may have been, he was 
both happy and amused, during his stay at 
Gwaynynog, and Mr. Myddelton was flat- 
tered by the honour of his visit. To per- 



NORTH WALES. 123 

We saw the Wood, which is 
diversified and romantic. 

September 4, Sunday. 
We dined with Mr. Myddelton, 



petuate the recollection of it, he erected an 
Urn on the banks of a rivulet, in the park, 
where Johnson delighted to stand and recite 
verses; on which is this inscription: 

This spot was often dignified by the presence of 

SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. 

whose Moral Writings, exactly conformable to the 

Precepts of Christianity, 

gave ardour to Virtue, and confidence to Truth. 

In 1777, it would appear from a letter by 



124 A JOURNEY INTO 

the clergyman, at Denbigh, where 
I saw the harvest-men very decently 
dressed, after the afternoon service, 
standing to be hired. On other 
days, they stand at about four in 
the morning. They are hired from 
day to day. 



Johnson to Mrs. Thrale, that he was inform- 
ed that Mr. Myddelton meditated this 
honour, which seemed to be but little to 
his taste. " Mr. Myddelton's erection of 
an urn, looks like an intention to bury me 
alive ; I would as willingly see my friend, 
however benevolent and hospitable, quietly 
inurned. Let him think, for the present,, 
of some more acceptable memorial." 



NORTH WALES. 



125 



We lay at Wrexham; a busy, Wrexham, 
extensive, and well built town. It 
has a very large and magnificent 
church. It has a famous fair. 



7. 



We came to Chirk Castle. 



Chirk Castle. 



8, Thursday. 

We came to the house of Llanrhaiadr. 
Dr. Worthington k , at Llanrhaiadr. 



k Dr. William Worthington, a man of 
distinguished learning, and an author of 









126 A JOURNEY INTO 

Our entertainment was poor, 
though the house was not bad. 
The situation is very pleasant, by 
the side of a small river, of which 
the bank rises high on the other 
side, shaded by gradual rows of 
trees. The gloom, the stream, and 
the silence, generate thoughtfulness. 
The town is old, and very mean, 
but has, I think, a market. In this 
town, the Welsh translation of the 



many works on religious subjects. He 
enjoyed considerable preferment in the 
church, and lived at Llanrhaiadr; of which 
parish he was the Rector. He died October 
6, 1778, aged 75. 



NORTH WALES. 



127 



Old Testament was made. The 
Welsh singing Psalms were written 
by Archdeacon Price. They are 
not considered as elegant, but as 
very literal, and accurate. 

We came to Llanrhaiadr 1 , through Llanrhaiadr. 
Oswestry ; a town not very little, Oswestry, 
nor very mean. The church, which 
I saw only at a distance, seems to be 
an edifice much too good for the 
present state of the place. 



1 Llanrhaiadr, being translated into Eng- 
lish, is The Village of the Fountain, and 
takes its name from a spring, about a quar- 
ter of a mile from the church. 



128 A JOURNEY INTO 



9. 



Llanrbaiadr We visited the Waterfal, which 

Waterfal. 

is very high, and in rainy weather 

very copious* There is a reservoir 
made to supply it. In its fall, it 
has perforated a rock. There is a 
room built for entertainment. 
There was some difficulty in climb- 
ing to a near view. Lord Lyttel- 
ton m came near it, and turned 
back. 

When we came back, we took 
some cold meat, and notwithstanding 



m Thomas, the second Lord Lyttelton. 



NORTH WALES. 129 

the Doctor's importunities, went that 
day to Shrewsbury. 

10. 

I sent for Gwynn 11 , and he shewed Shrewsbury, 
us the town. The walls are broken, 
and narrower than those of Chester. 



n Mr. Gwynn was an architect of con- 
siderable celebrity. He was a native of 
Shrewsbury, and was at this time completing 
a bridge across the Severn, called the 
English Bridge : besides this bridge, he 
built one at Acham, over the Severn, near 
to Shrewsbury ; and the bridges at Worces- 
ter, Oxford, and Henley, are all built by 
him. 



130 A JOURNEY INTO 

The town is large, and has many 
gentlemen's houses, but the streets 
are narrow. I saw Taylor's library. 
We walked in the Quarry; a very 
pleasant walk by the river. Our 
Inn was not bad. 

11. 

Sunday. We were at St. Chads, 
a very large and luminous church. 
We were on the Castle Hill. 

12. 
Wenlock. We called on Dr. Adams*, 

9 The Master of Pembroke College, 
Oxford ; who was also Rector of St. Chads, 
in Shrewsbury. 



NORTH WALES. 



131 



and travelled towards Worcester, 

through Wenlock ; a very mean 

place, though a borough. At 

noon, we came to Bridgenorth, Bridgenorth 

and walked about the town, of 

which, one part stands on a high 

rock; and part very low, by the 

river. There is an old tower, 

which, being crooked, leans so 

much, that it is frightful to pass 

by it. 

In the afternoon we came through 
Kinver, a town in Staffordshire ; Kinver. 
neat and closely built. I believe it 
has only one street. 

The road was so steep and miry, 
that we were forced to stop at 



132 



A JOURNEY INTO 



Hartlebury. Hartlebury, where we had a very 
neat Inn, though it made a very 
poor appearance. 

13. 

We came to Lord Sandy's, at 
Ombersley, where we were treated 
with great civility p . 

The house is large. The hall is* 
a very noble room. 



15. 



Worcester. We went to Worcester, a very 



p It was here that Johnson had as much 
wall-fruit as he wished, and, as he told 
Mrs. Thrale, for the only time in his life. 



NORTH WALES. 133 

splendid city. The cathedral is very 
noble, with many remarkable monu- 
ments. The library is in the Chap- 
ter House. On the table lay the 
Nuremberg chronicle, I think, of 
the first edition 9 . We went to the 
china warehouse'. 



* The first edition was printed July 12, 
1493. The author, or rather compiler of 
this chronicle, was one Hartman Schedel, 
of Nuremberg, a Physician. 

r In 1777, Sept. 19, Johnson took 
Boswell to see the China Manufactory, at 
Derby, and these are his remarks on that 
Occasion. u The Derby china is very 
pretty, but I think the gilding is all super- 



134 A JOURNEY INTO 

The Cathedral has a cloister. 
The long aisle is, in my opinion, 
neither so wide nor so high as that 
of Lichfield. 

16. 
Hagley. We went to Hagley, where we 



ficial ; and the finer pieces are so dear, that 
perhaps silver vessels, of the same capacity, 
may be sometimes bought at the same 
price; and I am not yet so infested with 
the contagion of china-fancy, as to like 
any thing at that rate, which can so easily 
be broken." 



NORTH WALES, 135 

were disappointed of the respect 
and kindness that we expected*. 



17. 



We saw the House and Park, 
which equalled my expectation. 
The house is one square mass. 
The offices are below. The rooms 
of elegance on the first floor, with 
two stories of bedchambers, very 
weji disposed above it. The bed- 



* This visit was not to Lord Lyttelton, 
but to his uncle, the father of the present 
Lord Lyttelton, who lived at a house called 
Little Hagley. 



136 A JOURNEY INTO 

chambers have low windows, which 
abates the dignity of the house. 

The Park has an artificial ruin, 
and wants water ; there is, however, 
one temporary cascade. From the 
farthest hill there is a very wide 
prospect. 



18. 



I went to Church. The Church 
is, externally, very mean, and is 
therefore diligently hidden by a 
plantation. There are in it several 
modern monuments of the Lyttel- 
tons. 

There dined with us, Lord 



NORTH WALES. 137 

Dudley, and Sir Edward Lyttelton, 
of Staffordshire, and his Lady. 
They were all persons of agreeable 
conversation. 

I found time to reflect on my 
birth-day, and offered a prayer, 
which I hope was heard 1 . 



t Dr. Johnson particularly disliked to be 
complimented on his birth-day, or to have 
the day mentioned, and Boswell frequently 
annoyed him on that head. In a letter 
which he wrote to Mrs. Thrale, while he 
was staying at the Macleods, in the Isle of 
Skie, he says, " Boswell, with some of his 
troublesome kindness, has informed this 
family, and reminded me, that the 18th of 



138 A JOURNEY INTO 

19. 

We made haste away from a 
place, where all were offended. In 
the way we visited the Leasowes. 



September is my birth-day. The return of 
my birth-day, if I remember it, fills me 
with thoughts, which it seems to be the 
general care of humanity to escape. I can 
now look back upon threescore and four 
years, in which little has been done, and 
little has been enjoyed ; a life diversified by 
misery, spent part in the sluggishness of 
penury, and part under the violence of 
pain, in gloomy discontent or importunate 
distress. But perhaps I am better than I 



NORTH WALES. 139 

It was rain, yet we visited all the 
Waterfalls. There are, in one place, 
fourteen falls in a short line. It is 
the next place to Ham Gardens. 
Poor Shenstone never tasted his 
pension. It is not very well proved 



should have been, if I had been less 
afflicted. With this I will try to be 
content. 

" In proportion as there is less pleasure 
in retrospective considerations, the mind 
is more disposed to wander forward into 
futurity ; but at sixty-four, what promises, 
however liberal, of imaginary good, can 
futurity venture to make? yet something 
will be always promised, and some pro- 



140 A JOURNEY INTO 

that any pension was obtained for 
him. I am afraid that he died of 
misery. 
Birmingham. We came to Birmingham, and 

I sent for Wheeler, whom I found 
well. 



mises will always be credited. I am 
hoping, and I am praying, that I may 
]ive better in the time to come, whether 
long or short, than I have yet lived, and in 
the solace of that hope, endeavour to 
repose. Dear Queeny's day is next; 
I hope she at sixty-four will have less to 
regret. 

" I will now complain no more, but tell 
my Mistress of my travels." 



NORTH WALES. 141 



20. 



We breakfasted with Wheeler*, 
and visited the manufacture of 



u Dr. Benjamin Wheeler; he was a 
native of Oxford, and originally on the 
foundation of Trinity College ; afterwards 
he became a Fellow of Magdalene College, 
Canon of Christ Church, and Regius Pro- 
fessor of Divinity. He took his degree of 
A. M. Nov. 14, 1758, and D. D. July 6, 
1770; and was a man of extensive learning. 
Dr. Johnson, in his letters to Mrs. Thrale, 
styles him, " My learned friend, the man 
with whom I most delighted to converse." 



142 A JOURNEY INTO 

Papier Mache. The paper which 
they use is smooth whited brown ; 
the varnish is polished with rotten 
stone. Wheeler gave me a tea- 
board. We then went to Boul ton's, 
who, with great civility, led us 
through his shops. I could not 
distinctly see his enginery. 

Twelve dozen of buttons for 
three shillings. Spoons struck at 
once. 

21. 

Wheeler came to us again. 
Woodstock. We came easily to Woodstock. 



NORTH WALES. 143 



We saw Blenheim and Wood- Blenheim. 
stock Park. The Park contains 
two thousand five hundred acres ; 
about four square miles. It has 
red deer w . 



w Dr. Johnson had a great admiration for 
Blenheim Park, the measure of which may 
be estimated by this observation of his to 
Boswell, when they visited it together in 
1776. " You and I, sir, have, I think, 
seen together the extremes of what can be 
seen in Britain — the wild rough island of 
Mull, and Blenheim Park." 



144 A JOURNEY INTO 

Mr. Bryant shewed me the 
Library with great civility. Du- 
randi Rationale, 1459*. 
Lascaris' Grammar of the 
first edition, well printed, but 



* This is a work written by William 
Durand, Bishop of Mende, and printed 
on vellum, in folio, by Fust and Schoeffer, 
in Mentz, 1459. It is the third book that 
is known to be printed with a date, and is 
considered as a curious and extraordinary 
specimen of early printing. .An imperfect 
copy was sold at Dr. Askew's sale, Feb. 22, 
1775, for sixty-one pounds, to Mr. Elmsly 
the bookseller. 



NORTH WALES. 145 

much less than later editions 7 . 



y Dr. Johnson, in another column of his 
Diary, has put down, in a note, " First 
printed book in Greek, Lascaris's Gram- 
mar, 4to, Mediolani, 14-767' The im- 
print of this book is, Mediolani Impressum 
per Magistrum Dionysium Paravisinum. 
M.CCCC.LXXVI. Die xxx Januarii. 
This edition is very rare, and it is probable 
that Dr. Johnson saw it now for the first 
time. A copy was purchased for the king's 
library at Dr. Askew's sale, 1775, for twenty- 
one pounds ten shillings. 

This was the first book that was ever 
printed in the Gr£ek character. The first 
book printed in the English language was 
the Histories of Troy e, printed in 1 47 1 ; an 



146 A JOURNEY INTO 

The first Batrachomyoma- 

CHIA Z . 

The Duke sent Mr. Thrale 
partridges and fruit. 
Oxford. At night we came to Oxford. 



imperfect copy of which was put up to 
public sale in 1812, when there was a 
competition amongst men eminent for 
learning, rank, and fortune ; and, accord- 
ing to their estimation of its value, it 
was sold for the sum of one thousand 
and sixty pounds ten shillings. — App. 9- 

z The Battle of the Frogs and Mice. 
The first edition was printed by Laonicus 
Cretensis, 1486. This book consists of 
forty-one pages, small quarto, and the 



NORTH WALES. 147 

23. 

We visited Mr. Coulson. The 
Ladies wandered about the Uni- 
versity. 

24. 
.KaSr. We dine with Mr. Con- 



verses afe printed with red and black ink 
alternately. A copy was sold at Dr. 
Askew's sale, 1775, for fourteen guineas. 

a Mr. Coulson was a senior Fellow of 
University College; in habit and appear- 



148 A JOURNEY INTO 

Vansittart b told me his dis- 
temper. 
Beaconsfield. Afterwards we were at Burke's, 

where we heard of the dissolution 



aace somewhat resembling Johnson him- 
self, and was considered in his time 
as an Oxford character. He took his 
degree of A. M. April 12, 1746. After 
this visit, Dr. Johnson told Mrs. Thrale 
that he was the man designated in the 
Rambler, under the name of Gelidus the 
Philosopher. — See App. 10. 

b Dr. Robert Vansittart, Fellow of All 
Souls, and Regius Professor of Law ; 
uncle to the present Chancellor of the 
Exchequer. 



NORTH WALES. 149 

of the Parliament. We went London, 
home'. BoltCourt ' 



c Mrs. Thrale says, " Dr. Johnson had 
always a very great personal regard and 
particular affection for Mr. Burke ; and 
when at this time the general election 
broke up the delightful society in which 
we had spent some time at Beaconsfield, 
Dr. Johnson shook the hospitable master 
of the house kindly by the hand, and said, 
' Farewell, my dear sir, and remember that 
I wish you all the success which ought 
to be wished you, which can possibly be 
wished you, by an honest man.'* " 



150 



OPINIONS AND OBSERVATIONS, 
BY DR. JOHNSON. 



1. Life, to be worthy of a 
rational being, must be always in 
progression ; we must always pur- 
pose to do more and better than 
in time past. 

2. Of real evils the number is 
great; of possible evils there is no 
end. 

3. The desire of fame not regu- 
lated, is as dangerous to virtue as 
that of money. 

4. Flash}', light, and loud con- 



OPINIONS, &C 151 

versation, is often a cloke for 
cunning ; as shewy life, and a 
gay outside, spread now and then 
a thin covering over avarice and 
poverty. 

5. There are few minds to which 
tyranny is not delightful ; power is 
nothing but as it is felt ; and the 
delight of superiority is propor- 
tionate to the resistance overcome. 

6. Old times have bequeathed us 
a precept, to be merry and xvise ; 
but who has been able to observe it? 
Prudence soon comes to spoil our 
mirth. 

7. The advice that is wanted is 
commonly unwelcome, and that 



159, OPINIONS AND 

which is not wanted is evidently 
impertinent. 

8. It is very rarely that an 
author is hurt by his critics. The 
blaze of reputation cannot be blown 
out, but it often dies in the socket ; 
a very few names may be considered 
as perpetual lamps that shine uncon- 
sumed. 

9. There is no wisdom in useless 
and hopeless sorrow ; but there is 
something in it so like virtue, that 
he who is wholly without it, cannot 
be loved, nor will by me at least be 
thought worthy of esteem. 

10. In the world there is much 
tenderness where there is no mis- 



OBSERVATIONS. 155 

fortune, and much courage where 
there is no danger. 

1 1. He that has less than enough 
for himself, has nothing to spare; 
and as every man feels only his own 
necessities, he is apt to think those 
of others less pressing, and to 
accuse them of withholding what 
in truth they cannot give. He 
that has his foot firm upon dry- 
ground may pluck another out of 
the water ; but of those that are 
all afloat, none has any care but 
for himself. 

12. Attention and respect give 
pleasure, however late or however 
useless. But. they are not useless 



154 OPINIONS AND 

when they are late ; it is reasonable 
to rejoice, as the day declines, to 
find that it has been spent with the 
approbation of mankind. 

13. Cool reciprocations of esteem 
are the great comforts of life ; hyper- 
bolical praise only corrupts the 
tongue of the one, and the ear of 
the other. 

14. The fortuitous friendships 
of inclination or vanity, are at 
the mercy of a thousand acci- 
dents. 

15. A sudden blaze of kindness 
may, by a single blast of coldness, 
be extinguished. Esteem of great 
powers or amiable qualities newly 



OBSERVATIONS. 155 

discovered, may embroider a day or 
a week ; but a friendship of twenty 
years is interwoven with the texture 
of life. A friend may be often 
found and lost; but an old friend 
never can be found, and Nature 
has provided that he cannot easily 
be lost 

16. Incommunicative taciturnity 
neither imparts nor invites friend- 
ship, but reposes on a stubborn suffi- 
ciency self-centered, and neglects the 
interchange of that social officious- 
ness by which we are habitually 
endeared to one another. To be 
without friendship, is to be without 
one of the first comforts of our pre- 



156 OPINIONS, &c. 

sent state. To have no assistance 
from other minds in resolving doubts, 
in appeasing scruples, in balancing 
deliberations, is a very wretched 
destitution. 

17. Faith in some proportion to 
fear. 



APPENDIX. 



No. I. — Pa^e 4. 



The Character of Mrs. Lucy Porter, Dr. 
Johnson's Step-daughter ; by Miss Seward, 
of Lichfield. 

u When she was in her bloom, she had 
a round face, and tolerably pretty features, 
though in the shadeless blankness of flaxen 
hair and eye-brows, and a clear skin. She 
had never any elegance of figure ; but her 
rustic prettiness pleased the men. More 
than once she might have married ad van- 



158 APPENDIX. 

tageously ; but as to the enamoured affec- 
tions, 

" High Taurus' snow, fann'd by the eastern wind, 
Was not more cold." 

" She was one of those few beings, who, 
from a sturdy singularity of temper, and 
some prominent good qualities of head and 
heart, was enabled, even in her days of 
scanty maintenance, to make society glad 
to receive, and pet the grown spoiled child. 
Affluence was not hers till it came to her 
in her fortieth year, by the death of her 
eldest brother. From the age of twenty 
till that period, she had boarded in Lich- 
field with Dr. Johnson's mother, who still 
kept that little bookseller's shop, by which 
her husband had supplied the scanty means 
of existence. Meantime, Lucy Porter kept 



APPENDIX. 159 

the best company of our little city, but 
would make no engagement on market- 
days, lest Granny, as she called Mrs. John- 
son, should catch cold by serving in the 
shop. There Lucy Porter took her place, 
standing behind the counter, nor thought 
it a disgrace to thank a poor person who 
purchased from her a penny battledore. 

" With a marked vulgarity of address 
and language, and but little intellectual 
cultivation, she had a certain shrewdness 
of understanding, and piquant humour, 
with the most perfect truth and integrity. 
By these good traits in her character, were 
the most respectable inhabitants of this 
place induced to bear, with kind smiles, 
her mulish obstinacy, and perverse con- 
tradictions. Johnson himself, often her 



160 APPENDIX. 

guest, set the example, and extended to 
her that compliant indulgence which he 
shewed not to any other person. I have 
heard her scold him like a school-boy, 
for soiling her floor with his shoes ; for 
she was clean as a Dutch woman in her 
house, and exactly neat in her person. 
Dress too she loved in her odd way ; 
but we will not assert that the Graces 
were her hand-maids. Friendly, cordial, 
and cheerful to those she loved ; she was 
more esteemed, more amusing, and more 
regretted, than many a polished character, 
over whose smooth, but insipid surface, the 
attention of those who have mind passes 
iistless and uninterested." 

She died January 13th, 1786, in the 
seventy-first year of her age. 



APPENDIX. 16*1 



No. II. — Page 4. 

Some Account of Mrs. Elizabeth Aston , 
derived from a Conversation between Dr. 
Johnson and Miss Seward. 

Miss Seward. — " I have often heard my 
mother say, Doctor, that Mrs. Elizabeth 
Aston was, in her youth, a very beautiful 
woman ; and that, with all the censorious- 
ness and spiteful spleen of a very bad 
temper, she had great powers of pleas- 
ing; that she was lively, insinuating, and 
intelligent. 

" I knew her not till the vivacity of her 

youth had long been extinguished, and I 

confess I looked in vain for the traces of 

former ability. I wish to have your opinion,, 

M 



162 APPENDIX. 

sir, of what she was, you who knew her so 
well in her best days." 

Dr. Johnson. — " My dear, when thy 
mother told thee Aston was handsome, 
thy mother told thee truth : she was 
very handsome. When thy mother told 
thee that Aston loved to abuse her neigh- 
bours, she told thee truth ; but when 
thy mother told thee that Aston had 
any marked ability in that same abusive 
business, that wit gave it zest, or imagi- 
nation colour, thy mother did not tell 
thee truth. No, no, madam, Aston's 
understanding was not of any strength, 
either native or acquired." 

Miss Seward. — " But, sir, I have heard 
you say, that her sister's husband, Mr. 
Walmsley, was a man of bright parts, 
and extensive knowledge; that he was 



APPENDIX. 163 

also a man of strong passions, and, though 
benevolent in a thousand instances, yet 
irascible in as many. It is well known, 
that Mr. Walmsley was considerably go- 
verned by this lady ; as witness Mr. Hin- 
ton's constant visits, and presence at his 
table, in despite of its master's avowed 
aversion. Could it be, that, without some 
marked intellectual powers, she could obtain 
absolute dominion over such a man ?" 

Dr. Johnson. — " Madam, I have said, 
and truly, that Walmsley had bright and 
extensive powers of mind ; that they had 
been cultivated by familiarity with the best 
authors, and by connections with the learned 
and polite. It is a fact, that Aston obtained 
nearly absolute dominion over his will; it 
is no less a fact, that his disposition was 
irritable and violent. But Walmsley was 



i64 appendix. 

a man : and there is no man who can resist 
the repeated attacks of a furious woman. 
Walmsley had no alternative but to submit, 
or turn her out of doors." 



No. TIL — Page 9. 
Dr. Taylor of Ashbourn. 

Dr. Johnson, speaking of Dr. Taylor, 
said, " Taylor is a very sensible, acute 
man, and has a strong mind ; he has great 
activity, in some respects, and yet he has 
such a sort of indolence, that if you should 
put a pebble upon his chimney-piece, you 
would find it there, in the same state, a 
year afterwards. 

" His is a very pleasant house, with a 
lawn, a lake, and twenty deer and five 



APPENDIX. 165 

fawns upon the lawn, and he himself is 
one of those who finds every hour some- 
thing new to wish, or to enjoy ." 

" Dr. Taylor was much taken up in agri* 
cultural pursuits, and had great pleasure in 
having all the stock on his farm of the best 
quality. In these pursuits, Johnson had no 
interest ; and in his letters to Mrs. Thrale, 
while he was staying at his house, at differ- 
ent times, he says — ' The Doctor is now all 
for cattle. — I have seen the great bull, and 
very great he is : I have seen likewise his 
heir-apparent, who promises to inherit all 
the bulk, and all the fortunes of his sire. I 
have seen the man who offered an hundred 
guineas for the young bull, while he was 
yet little better than a calf. — There has 
been a man here to-day to take a farm. 



166 APPENDIX. 

After some talk, he went to see the ball, 
and said that he had seen a bigger. Do 
you think he is likely to get the farm ? 
— Our bulls and cows are all well ; but we 
yet hate the man that had seen a bigger 
bull. Taylor is now going to have a ram, 
and then, after Aries and Taurus, we shall 
have Gemini. — While I think on it, I will 
tell you what I really saw with my own 
eyes; Mr. Chaplin of Lincolnshire's letter 
for Dr. Taylor's Cow, accompanied with a 
draft on Hoare for one hundred and twenty- 
six pounds to pay for her a . 

" * The Doctor is busy in his fields, and 
goes to bed at nine, and his whole system 



* This letter is dated October 22, 1777. 



APPENDIX. 167 

is so different from mine, that we seem 
formed for different elements/ " 
Dr. Taylor died Feb. 19, 1788. 



No. IV. — Page 21. 
A Description of Dovedale, by Mr. Whateley. 

" Dovedale is about two miles in length, a 
deep, narrow, hollow valley ; both the sides 
are of rock ; and the Dove in its passage 
between them is perpetually changing its 
course, its motion, and appearance. It is 
never less than ten, nor so much as twenty 
yards wide, and generally about four feet 
deep ; but transparent to the bottom, except 
when it is covered with a foam of the purest 
white, under waterfalls which are perfectly 
lucid : these are very numerous, but very 



168 APPENDIX. 

different ; in some places they stretch 
straight across, or aslant the stream ; in 
others they are only partial ; and the water 
either dashes against the stones, and leaps 
over them : or pouring along a steep, 
rebounds upon those below; sometimes it 
rushes through the several openings between 
them, sometimes it drops gently down; and 
at other times it is driven back by the ob- 
struction, and turns into an eddy. 

<( In one particular spot, the valley almost 
closing, leaves hardly a passage for the 
river, which, pent up, and struggling for 
a vein, rages, and roars, and foams, till it 
has extricated itself from the confinement. 
In other parts, the stream, though never 
languid, is often gentle ; flows round a 
little desert island, glides between aits of 
bulrushes, disperses itself among tufts of 



APPENDIX. \69 

grass, or of moss, bubbles about a water- 
dock, or plays with the slender threads 
of aquatic plants which float upon the 
surface. 

. " The rocks all along the dale vary as 
often in their structure, as the stream in its 
motion, and do not long present the same 
figure, or relative position : in one place 
an extended surface gradually diminishes 
from a broad base, almost to an edge; in 
another, a heavy top hanging forwards, 
overshadows all beneath; sometimes many 
different shapes are confusedly tumbled 
together; and sometimes they are broken 
into slender sharp pinnacles, which rise 
upright, often two or three together, and 
often in more numerous clusters. On one 
side of the dale, they are universally bare; 
on the other, they are intermixed with 
wood ; and the vast height of both the 



170 APPENDIX. 

sides, with the narrowness of the interval 
between them, produces a further variety : 
for whenever the sun shines from behind the 
one, the form of it is distinctly and com- 
pletely cast upon the other; the rugged 
surface on which it falls, diversifies the 
tints; and a strong . reflected light often 
glares on the edge of the deepest shadow. 
" The breadth of the valley is never the 
same forty yards together ; at the narrow 
pass which has been mentioned, the rocks 
almost meet at the top, and the sky is seen 
as through a chink between them : just by 
this gloomy abyss, is a wider opening, 
more light, more verdure, more cheerfulness, 
than any where else in the dale. Nor are 
the forms and the situations of the rocks 
their only variety ; many of them are per- 
forated by large natural cavities ; some of 
which open to the sky, some terminate in 



APPENDIX. 171 

dark recesses : and through some, are to be 
seen several more uncouth arches, and rude 
pillars, all detached, and retiring beyond 
each other ; the noise of the cascades in the 
river echoes amongst them ; the water may 
often be heard at the same time gurgling 
near, and roaring at a distance; but no 
other sounds disturb the silence of the spot; 
the only trace of men is a blind path, but 
lightly and but seldom trodden by those 
whom curiosity leads to see the wonders 
they have been told of Dovedale." 



No. V. — Page 49. 
The Roman Hypocaust at Chester, described. 

" The Hypocaust is of a triangular figure, 
supported by thirty-two pillars, two feet 



17% APPENDIX. 

ten inches and a half high, and about 
eighteen inches distant from each other. 
Upon each is a tile eighteen inches square, 
as if designed for a capital ; and over them 
a perforated tile, two feet square. Such are 
continued over all the pillars. Above these 
are two layers ; one of coarse mortar, mixed 
with small red gravel, about three inches 
thick ; and the other of finer materials, 
between four and five inches thick ; these 
seem to have been the floor of the room 
above. The pillars stand on a mortar-floor, 
spread over the rock. On the south side, 
between the middle pillars, is the vent for 
the smoke, about six inches square, which is 
at present open to the height of sixteen 
inches. Here is also an antechamber, 
exactly of the same extent with the 
Hypocaust, with an opening in the middle 



APPENDIX. 173 

into it. This is sunk nearly two feet below 
the level of the former, and is of the same 
rectangular figure; so that both together 
are an exact square. This was the room 
allotted for the slaves who attended to heat 
the place ; the other was the receptacle of 
the fuel designed to heat the room above, 
the concamerata sudatio, or sweating cham- 
ber ; where people were seated, either in 
niches, or on benches, placed one above 
the other, during the time of the operation. 
Such was the object of this Hypocaust ; for 
there were others of different forms, for the 
purpose of heating the water destined for 
the use of the bathers. 



%* See Vitruvius, book v. c. 10 and 11; and the 
plates at the end of Newton's translation, vol. i. 



174 APPENDIX. 

No. VI. — Page 81. 

Dr. Johnson's Pleasures of the liable, as given 
by Mrs. Thrale. 

" His favourite dainties were, a leg of 
pork boiled till it dropped from the bone, 
a veal-pye, with plums and sugar, or the 
outside cut of a salt buttock of beef. With 
regard to drink, his liking was for the 
strongest, as it was not the flavour, but the 
effect he sought for, and professed to desire ; 
and when I first knew him, he used to pour 
capillaire into his port wine. For the last 
twelve years, however, he left off all fer- 
mented liquors. To make himself some 
amends, indeed, he took his chocolate 
liberally, pouring in large quantities of 
cream, or even melted butter ; and was so 



APPENDIX. 175 

fond of fruit, that though he usually ate 
seven or eight large peaches of a morning 
before breakfast began, and treated them 
with proportionate attention after dinner 
again, yet I have heard him protest that he 
never had quite so much as he wished of 
wall-fruit, except once in his life, and that 
was when we were all together at Om- 
bersley, the seat of my Lord Sandys *. 

" Upon excess in eating, Johnson thus 
expresses himself: " Gluttony is, I think, 
less common among women, than among 
men. Women commonly eat more spar- 
ingly, and are less curious in the choice of 
meat; but, if once you find a woman 
gluttonous, expect from her very little 



«> Sept. 13, 1774, page 132. 



176 APPENDIX. 

virtue. Her mind is enslaved to the lowest 
and grossest temptation." 



No. VII. — Page 103. 

General Pasquale de Paoli. His first Inter- 
view) with Dr. Johnson, October 10, 1769- 

" In this interview, the General spoke 
Italian, and Dr. Johnson, English ; and the 
interview is thus described by Boswell. 

" Upon Johnson's approach, the General 
said, ' From what I have read of your 
works, sir, and from what Mr. Boswell has 
told me of you, I have long held you in 
great veneration.' The General talked of 
languages being formed on the particular 
notions and manners of a people, without 
knowing which, we cannot know the Ian- 



APPENDIX, 177 

guage. We may know the direct significa* 
^ion of single words; but by these, no 
beauty of expression, no sally of genius, 
no wit, is conveyed to the mind. All this 
must be by allusion to other ideas. ( Sir, 
(said Johnson,) you talk of language, as if 
you had never done any thing else but study 
it, instead of governing a nation.' The 
General said, ' Questo e un troppo gran 
complimento :' this is too great a compli- 
ment. Johnson answered, '■ I should have 
thought so, sir, if I had not heard you talk/ 
The General asked him what he thought 
of the spirit of infidelity which was so pre* 
valent. — Johnson. ' Sir, this gloom of 
infidelity, I hope, is only a transient cloud 
passing through the hemisphere, which will 
soon be dissipated, and the sun break forth 
with his usual splendour.' ■ — ' You thinly 



178 APPENDIX. 

then, (said the General,) that they will 
change their principles like their clothes.' 
— Johnson. ' Why, sir, if they bestow no 
more thought on principles than on dress, 
it must be so.' The General said, that i a 
great part of the fashionable infidelity was 
owing to a desire of shewing courage. 
Men who have no opportunities of shewing 
it as to things in this life, take death 
and futurity, as objects on which to display 
it.' — Johnson. 'That is mighty foolish 
affectation. Fear is one of the passions 
of human nature, of which it is impossible 
to divest it. You remember that the 
Emperor Charles V. when he read upon 
the tomb-stone of a Spanish nobleman, 
\ Here lies one who never knew fear/ 
wittily said, \ Then he never snuffed a 
candle with his fingers/ 



APPENDIX, 179 

" He talked a few words of French to the 
General; but finding he did not do it with 
facility, he asked for pen, ink, and paper> 
and wrote the following note : 

" * J'ai lu dans la geographie de Lucas 
de Linda un Pater-noster ecrit dans une 
langue tout-a-fait dirTerente de 1'Italienne, 
et de toutes autres lesquelles se derivent du 
Latin. L'auteur Tappelle linguam Corsica 
rusticam : elle a peut-etre passe, peu a peu ; 
rnais elle a certainement prevalue autrefois 
dans les montagnes et dans la campagne. 
Le meme auteur dit la meme chose en par- 
lant de Sardaigne ; qu'il y a deux langues 
dans'TIsle, une des villes, l'autre de la 
campagne.' 

" The General immediately informed him 
that the lingua rustica was only in Sardinia. 

Dr. Johnson went home with me, and 



180 APPENDIX, 

drank tea till late in the night. He said, 
' General Paoli had the loftiest port of any 
man he had ever seen.' " 



No. VIII. — Page 110. 
On recollecting past Times. 

Johnson's reflections on Mrs. Thrale's 
visiting the house where she was horn, 
tinged his mind with gloom : " such plea- 
sures are always melancholy :" there were 
times, however, when he himself enjoyed 
this retrospective pleasure. " I would have 
been glad to go to Hagley, in compliance 
with Mr. Lyttelton's kind invitation, for 
beside the pleasure of his conversation, I 
should have had the opportunity of recol- 
lecting past times, and wandering per 



APPENDIX. 181 

monies notos etflumina nota, of recalling the 
images of sixteen, and reviewing my con- 
versations with poor Ford. But this year 
will not bring this gratification within my 
power." July 8, 1771. 



No. IX. — Page 146. 
On early Printing. 

The first book ever printed, with a date, 
is a Latin Psalter, in black letter ; printed* 
by Fust and SchoefTer, in Mentz; August 
14, 1457. 

The first Latin Classic ever printed, was 
Cicero's Offices, printed in Mentz, 1465. 

The first Greek book that was printed, is 
Lascaris's Greek Grammar, printed in 
Milan, January SO, 1476. 



182 APPENDIX. 

The first Greek Classic that was printed, 
was an edition of the Iliad and the Odyssey, 
printed in Florence, 1488, in 2 vols, folio. 

The first book printed in the English Ian-* 
guage, is the Recueyell of the History es of 
Troye, in 147 1 ; but the first book printed 
in England, is the Game of Chess, in 1474 : 
both printed in black letter, by Caxton. 

Down to the year 1540, the University 
of Oxford had printed but one classic, which 
was a Book of Tully's Epistles, printed at 
the expense of Cardinal Wolsey. Cam* 
bridge had not printed any classic at this 
time. 

The first Greek book printed in England, 
was the Homilies, printed in 1543, at the 
expense of Sir John Cheke, who established 
the Greek Lecture at Cambridge. 

From these facts, England, with its two 



APPENDIX. 183 

splendid Universities, together with all its 
resources of wealth and learning, was sixty- 
seven years later than Milan, in adding to 
Greek literature from its own press ; and, 
after Mentz had printed a Latin Classic, 
Oxford followed at the respectful distance 
of seventy-five years. 

That commercial cities on the Continent 
at this aera should have so far out-stripped 
us in emulation, is extraordinary; when, 
in the nineteenth century, to collect the 
scattered fragments of early typography, 
without limitation of expense, and without 
discrimination of their worth, has been 
sufficient to confer distinction on men of the 
first rank and fortune of our time. Upon 
this subject, the reader may be amused and 
instructed in Mr. D'Israeli's Curiosities of 



184 APPENDIX. 

Literature. An author, from whose various 
works much pleasure and information is 
always to be found ; and his Romance of 
Mejnoun and Leila gives him a place in that 
department of English literature, which is 
not contested by any writer of the present 
day. 

No. X. — Page 148. 

Mr. Coidson, Fellow of University College. 
His Character designated under the Name 
of Gelidus, in the Rambler, No. 24. 

" Gelidus is a man of great penetration, 
and deep researches. Having a mind 
naturally formed for the abstruser sciences, 
he can comprehend intricate combinations 



APPENDIX. 185 

without confusion; and being of a temper 
naturally cool and equal, he is seldom inter- 
rupted by his passions, in the pursuit of the 
longest chain of unexpected consequences. 
He has, therefore, a long time indulged 
hopes, that the solution of some problems, 
by which the professors of science have 
been hitherto baffled, is reserved for his 
genius and industry. He spends his time 
in the highest room of his house, into 
which none of his family are suffered to 
enter ; and when he comes down to his 
dinner, or his rest, he walks about like a 
stranger, that is there only for a day, with- 
out any tokens of regard or tenderness. 
He has totally divested himself of all human 
sensations ; he has neither eye for beauty, 
nor ear for complaint ; he neither rejoices 



186 APPENDIX. 

at the good fortune of his nearest friend, nor 
mourns for any public or private calamity. 
Having once received a letter, and given it 
to his servant to read, he was informed, that 
it was written by his brother, who, being 
shipwrecked, had swam naked to land, and 
was destitute of necessaries, in a foreign 
country. Naked and destitute! says Geli- 
dus ; reach down the last volume of mete- 
orological observations, extract an exact 
account of the wind, and note it carefully in 
the diary of the weather. 

" The family of Gelidus once broke into 
his study, to shew him that a town at a small 
distance was on fire, and in a few moments 
a servant came to tell him, that the flame 
had caught so many houses on both sides, 
that the inhabitants were confounded, and 



APPENDIX. 187 

began to think of rather escaping with their 
lives, than saving their dwellings. What 
you tell me, says Gelidus, is very probable, 
for fire naturally acts in a circle. 

" Thus lives this great philosopher, insen^ 
sible to every spectacle of distress, and 
unmoved by the loudest call of social 
nature, for want of considering that men are 
designed for the succour and comfort of 
each other; that though there are hours 
which may be laudably spent upon know- 
ledge not immediately useful, yet the first 
attention is due to practical virtue ; and 
that he may be justly driven out from the 
commerce of mankind, who has so far 
abstracted himself from the species, as to 
partake neither of the joys nor griefs of 
others, but neglects the endearments of his 



188 APPENDIX. 

wife, and the caresses of his children, toj 
count the drops of rain, note the changes of 
the wind, and calculate the eclipses of the 
moons of Jupiter." 



ITINERARY. 



That this Work may be rendered more useful, 
the Editor has subjoined an Itinerary, to 
shew, in one view, the relative Distances of 
the Places mentioned in the Diary, which 
will assist the Reader, and be of service to 
the Tourist. 



At Chester, visit the Cathedral, the 
Castle, the City Walls, and St. John's 
Church. " Chester has many curiosities." 

From Chester to Caernarvon, (by Flint,) 
74 h miles. 



190 



ITINERARY. 



From Chester to Hawarden 

Chester. — 4 J miles, Bretton, (in 
Flintshire.) — 7J, pass Hawarden Cas- 
tle on the left. — 7 j, Hawarden. 



Flint 



Hawarden. — lj, New Inn Bridge 
(A little beyond are the ruins of Eu- 
loe Castle, in a copse about J of a mile 
on the right.) — 2|, Pentre Bridge. — 
4£, Northorp.— 7J, Flint. 

At Flint is a Castle, the County 
gaol, and a large smelting-house. 



Holywell 



Flint.— 1 J Nant y Moch. — 2 



7f 



15 



20^ 



* In the first column is the distance from the preceding 
town; and in the second, the distance from the town from 
whence the journey commences. 



ITINERARY. 



191 



Bagillt. — 3| Wallwine turnpike.— 
5} Holywell. 

At Holywell, see Wenefrede's wall 
and mills, for different processes in 
the preparation of lead, calamine, 
copper, brass, and cotton. 

About J J m. from the town, are 
the ruins of Basingweck Abbey. 

St. Asaph 

Holywell. — 1, pass the lead mines 
— 2 J, See, on an eminence at a dis- 
tance on the right, a high round 
tower, somewhat like an old wind- 
mill, supposed to have been a Roman 
Pharos. About 7> or 7J, descend 
into the vale of Clwyd. — Extensive 
prospect; Denbigh at a distance on 
the left, St. Asaph in front, and 



10 



19Q 



ITINERARY. 



Rhyddlan Castle on the right.— 10, 
St. Asaph. 

At St. Asaph are the Cathedral — 
Bishop's palace — and Deanry. — From 
the top of the Cathedral is an exten- 
sive view along the vale. 

From St. Asapb, Denbigh is 51, 
and Rhyddlan 3. 

Conwy. (Caernarvonshire.) 

St. Asaph.— 4, on right is Kin- 

mel, the seat of Hughes, 

Esq. — 4f, Llan St. Siors, or St. 
George's. — 6|, Abergeley.— 9 J, Llan- 
dulas. — 18, Ferry -House-. — 1S| 
Conwy. 



IS: 



49 



* Post chaises are kept at this house. 



ITINERARY. 



193 



At Conway are the Castle — Plas 
Mavvr — and poor remains of the 
Abbey. 

b\ m. South of Conway, is Caer 
Hen, the Conovium of the Romans. 

The tourist may cross the ferry 
again, and visit lj ra. Bodscallon, 
and beyond it Glbddaeth, two elegant 
seats of Sir Thomas Mostyn, Bart. 
and not far distant from these an 
old Tower, and the few remains of 
Diganwy Castle. 



Bangor Ferry 

Conway. — 5, the mountain Pen- 
maen Mawr. — 7, Lanfair Vechan. — 
9, Aber, (a mile and half from Aber 
is a celebrated waterfall.) — 13, Llan- 
dygai. — 13 J, on the right is Penrhyn, 
the seat of Lord Penrhyn. — 15, Ban- 
O 



m 



651 



194 



ITINERARY. 



gor, (see here, the Cathedral.) — 16| 
Bangor Ferry. 

The Inn at Bangor Ferry is a very 
£pod one. 



Caernarvon 

At Caernarvon are the Castle, and 
Plas Mawr. — From the rock behind 
the hotel, and from the Eagle Tower, 
are extensive views. 

The distance from Caernarvon to 
the summit of Snowdon, is rather 
more than 12 miles. 

j a mile south, is Llanbublic, and 
near it the remains of the Roman 



Seguntium. 



Caernarvon, to Llanberis 

Caernarvon. — 2j, Pont Rug. — 4, 
on right Llanrug. — 6, end of lower 



74i 



10 



ITINERARY. 



195 



Lake. — 8, Dolbadrne Castle. — the 
romantic vale of Llanberis. — (near 
Dolbadrne is a cataract (Caunant 
Mawr.J — 10, Llanberis. 

On the edge of the upper lake is 
a small coppci mine. 

On the left of the village is the 
lofty mountain Glyder Vavvr, and at 
the end of the vale a most romantic 
pass. 

From Dolbadrne Castle, is an easy 
ascent to the summit of Snowdon, 
only 4£ miles distant. 



From Caernarvon, (in an excursion round 
Anglesea.) 



From Caernarvon to Gwyndy .. 

Caernarvon. — 5 cross the straits 
of Menai, at Moel-y-don Ferry. — 5J, 



20 



196 



ITINERARY. 



about a mile to the right is Plas New- 
ydd, the seat of the Earl of Uxbridge. 
— 8, Llandaniel. — 11, Llanvihangel. 
14^, Llangefui.— 20, Gwyndy. 



Holyhead , 

Gwyndy. — 3j, Bodedern. — 5, 
Llanygenedl. — 8|, enter Holyhead 
island. — 12, Holyhead. 

Amlwch, about 

Ty Mawr, the inn at Amlwch, is a 
small house. — A mile from Amlwch 
are the Pary's Copper-mines. — 2 miles 
east is Llan Elian. 



Beaumaris, about - 

At Beaumaris is a castle, built by 
Edward I. 

j mile, from Beaumaris is Baron 
Hill, the seat ot Lord Bulkeley. 



12J 



32 h 



20 



20 



52} 



72J 



ITINERARY. 



197 



1 mile, is Friars, the seat of Sir 
Robert Williams, Bart, and near it a 
barn, built from the ruins of Llanvaes 
Abbey. — 3|, Paenmon Priory; and 
just off the point, Priestholme Island, 
celebrated as being the resort of the 
Species of bird called Puflin. 



Caernarvon 



Cross the ferry to Aber, 3J ; and 
go by Bangor. 



20 



92£ 



From Caernarvon, (in an excursion to 
Llanrwst.) 



From Caernarvon to Capel Ca 
rig, about 

Caernarvon. — 5£, Llanddiniolen j 
(near this place is an ancient fort, called | 



22 



198 



ITINERARY. 



Dinas Dinorrddwig.) — 13, Lord Pen- 
rhyn's slate quarries. — Romantic vale 
of Nant Frangon.— 17 J, Llyn Ogwen. 
— 22, Capel Carig. 

Capel Carfg stands in a fine moun- 
tainous vale, in which are two lakes. 

Llanrwst, (by Dolwyddelan Cas- 
tle,) 

Capel Carig. — 5, Dolwyddelan Vil- 
lage.— 6\ Castle. — 12, a cataract on 
the Llugwy, (Rhaiadr y IVenol ) — 
13, Pont-y-pair.— 13 J, Bettws. — 17, 
J^lanrwst. 

At Llanrwst, see the Church and 
Bridge. 

J mile from the town is Gwydir, 
the ancient seat of the Wynne family. 

3 miles north are the poor remains 
of Maenan Abbey. 



17 



39 



ITINERARY. 



199 



Tan-y-bwlch Inn 

Llanrwst. — S|, Bettws. — 5, small 
cataract on the Conway.-— 6, the fall 
of the Conway, (Rhaiadr y Graig 
L!wyd.) — 8 t Penmachno. — 18, Ffes- 
tiniog; and near it, the falls of the 
Cynfael.— 19, the Vale of Ffestiniog. 
— 20, Tan-y-bwlch. 



Caernarvon .- 

Tan-y-bwlch. — 6J, Pont-Aberglds- 
llyn.— 8, Beddgelert.— 12, Llyn Cwe- 
llyn — 13j, Nant Mill.— 15, Bettws. 
— 20, Caernarvon. 



20 



20 



59 



79 



From Caernarvon (round the remainder of 
North Wales) to Shrewsbury. 



From Caernarvon to Beddgelert, 
Caernarvon. — J, Seguntium and 



12 



200 



ITINERARY. 



Llanbublic — 4, Pont Curnant. — 5, 
Bettws.— 6J, on the left, Plas y Nant, 
a house belonging to Sir Robert Wil- 
liams, Bart. ; and on the right, a small 
cascade at Nant Mill. — 7, Llyn Cwe- 
llyn. — See Snowdon on the left. — 
(The tourist who wishes to risit Llyn 
y Dywarchen, in which is the Float- 
ing Inland, must turn to the right soon 
after he has passed Llyn Cwellyn. — 
12, Beddgelert, 

From Beddgelert, the distance is 
l| mile to Pont-Aberglas<Ovn, (the 
Devil's Bridge.) — 7, to Penmoifa; — 
and 10, to Criccieth, where are the 
remains of an old castle. 

The traveller should by all means 
visit the vale near Beddgelert, called 
Gwynant. ]J mile on the left, is 
Pinas Emrys, the place from whence 



ITINERARY. 



201 



Merlin's prophecies were delivered. — 
2, Llyn-y-dinas.— 4J, Llyn Gwynant; 
not far from which, is a lofty cataract, 
called Rhaidr y Cwm Dyli. 

Snowdon may be ascended from 
Beddgelert; the distance to the sum- 
mit is about 6 miles ; but the track 
is much more rugged than that from 
Dolbadarn Cattle, near Llanberis. 

Tan-y-bwlch, (Merionethshire,). 

Beddgelert. — 1 £, Pont- Aberglas 
llyn. Along the mountain road, 
which is excessively bad for carriages, 
are several extended prospects. — 8 m; 
Tan-y-bwlch. 

Not far from the inn, is Tan-y- 
bwlch Llall, the seat of Oakley, 

Esq. 

Ffestiniog is about 3 miles distant : 



20 



202 



ITINERARY. 



near it are the falls of the Cynfael. — 
The road lays along the vale. 

Harlech 

Tan-y-bwlcb. — 1 , Maentwrog. — 
lj, having passed a small bridge, at 
some distance on the left is a cata- 
ract, (Rhaiadr duj. — 4, Llyn Tecw\ n 
ucha. — 5, Llantecwyn. — 5 J, Llyn 
Tecwyn isa. — 7, Pont y Crudd. — 10, 
Harlech. 

At Harlech are the remains of a 
castle. 



Barmouth 



Harlech. — 1 j, Llanfair. — ?j, Dan 
bedir. — (In a field on the right, near 
Llanbedir, are two tall upright stone?, 
probably what the British, in former 
times, called Meini Gwyr, the Stones 



10 



10 30 



40 



ITINERARY. 



203 



of the Heroes) — 5j, Llandwye. (From 
hence is a road on the Kit to Cors- 
y-gedol; distant l\ mile, an anci- 
ent seat of the Vaughans, but now 
belonging to Sir Thomas Mostyn, 
Bart.) — 8 J, Llan Aber. — 10, Bar- 
mouth. 

There is a charming walk along 
the beach on the bank of the river 
Maw, near Baimouth. 



Dolgelle ,*-^. 

Barmouth. — 2J, Glan-y-dwr. — S 
Llanelltid. — 10, Dolgelle. 

From Dolgelle, it is 1 mile to 
Hengwrt, a seat belonging to the 
Vaughans. — lj, to Y Vaner, oi 
Kemmer Abbey. — 6, to the cataract 
at Dolymelynllyn. — 9> to two others 
Pistyll y Cain, and Rhaiadr y Maw- 



J0 



50 



204 



ITINERARY. 



ddach. — After having visited these, 
you may return, along another road, 
by the village of Llanfachredd, and 
Nanney, another seat of the Vaughan 
family. 

From Dolgelle, guides may be had 
to ascend the mountain Cader Idris, 
whose summit is about 5 J miles distant. 

Machyolieth 



Dolgelle. — 5, Llyn Trigraienyn. — 
7, a small public house, (the Blue 
Lio?i,) from whence a guide may be 
had to the summit of Cader Idris. — 
4 miles distant, see at a distance Llyn 
JMwyngil. — 14, cross the Dovey. — 
15, Machynlleth. 

At Machynlleth is an old building, 
in which Owen Glendwr is said to 
have assembled his parliament. 



15 



65 



ITINERARY. 



205 



Llanydloes, (Montgomeryshire,) 

Machynlleth. — About half- way, 
and near lj mile on the right, is a 
cataract, called Ffrwd y Pennant. — 
Plinlinnmon visible at a distance on 
the right. — Cross the Severn ; — and 
ip, eater Llanydloes. 

Newtown 



Llanydloes. — 6f , Liandinam. — 8, 
cross river to Caer Svvs, an old Ro- 
man station about a mile distant; — 
and return 10, Pen y Strywad. — 13, 
Newtown. 

Dolforwyn Castle is 4 miles dis- 
tant; and lj mile on the road to 
Builth is a cataract, but not worth 



Montgomery - 9 



19 84 



13 



97 



106 



206 



ITINERARY. 



At Montgomery see the castle and 
church. 



Welsh Pool 



Montgomery. — 7i on the left is 
Powis Castle. — 9, Welsh Pool. 

Oswestry, (Shropshire,) 

Welsh Pool. — 6, pass the Breiddin 
Hills on the right. — 9» cross, by a 
ferry, the river Virnwy. — 9^, Llany- 
mynech. 

At Oswestry, see the Church, St. 
Oswald's Well, and the Mount where 
the castle stood. 

Wrexham, (Denbighshire,) 

Oswestry. — 5 J, Chirk. — (See the 
Church ; the Aqueduct over the vale 
of Ceiriog ; and 2 miles distant, Chirk 



15 



115 



130 



15| 



145| 



ITINERARY. 



207 



Castle, the seat of Richard Myddel- 
ton, Esq.) — View from thence into 
seventeen different counties. — 8, New 
Bridge. — 10, Ruabon, where, in 1798, 
there was a neat small inn building. — 
(From this place, the tourist may visit 
Wynnstay, the seat of Sir Watkin 
Williams Wynne, Bart. ; and near it, 
Nant y Bele, where there is a fine 
prospect on the Dee ; 5 j miles, is 
Overton; and 9, Bangor.) — 13£, on 
the right, is Erddig, the seat of Philip 
Yorke, Esq. — 15, Wrexham. 

See the Church at Wrexham; and 
in it a beautiful Monument of Mrs. 
Mary Myddclton. 

5\ miles from Wrexham is Holt, 
where are the poor remains of a castle. 

Mold, (Flintshire,). 



12J 1 158 



208 



ITINERARY. 



Wrexham. — 4J, Cedgidow Bridge. 
5J Caergurle, near which are a few 
remains of its Castle. — 6, Hope. — 
12, Mold. 

SeetheChurch,and the Eay ley Hill, 
on which the Castle stood. 

1 j from Mold, is Rhual, the seat 
of the Griffith family, near which i- 
Maes Garmon, where A. D. 448, the 
famous Alleluia victory was ob 
tained by the Britons, over the Picts 
and Scots. 

Holywell 

Mold.— 3J, Northop.— 6, IJalkin. 
—9, Holywell. 

St. Asaph 

Denbigh, (Denbighshire) 



167 



10 1 



\S3 



ITINERARY. 



209 



St. Asaph. — Along the vale of 
Clwyd. — 6, Denbigh. 
See the Castle. 



Ruthin 

Denbigh. — Still along the vale of 
Clwyd. — 3, Llanrhaidr. (See the 
Church and Well at this place.) — 
8, Ruthin. 

At Ruthin are the remains of a 
castle. 



Llangollen 

Ruthin. — 10£, enter the vale of 
Crucis. — 11}, pass the pillar of Eli- 
seg, in a meadow on the left. — llj, 
on left Valle Crucis Abbey. — See 
Castell Dinas Bran, on an eminence 
beyond. 

13|, Llangollen. 



191 



mi 






210 



ITINERARY. 



Visit Valle Crucis Abbey — the 
Pillar of Eliseg— and Castell Dinas 
Bran ; the latter is about a mile from 
Llangollen. 

Go round the \ale of Llangollen, 
(about 10 miles). — Near Pont Cys- 
syllte, 4 miles, see an immense Aque- 
duct, for the Ellesmere canal, over the 
vale. 

Corwen, (M erionethshire,) 

Llangollen. — 3, on opposite bank 
of the Dee, see Llandysilio Hall. — 7, 
the place on which Owen Glyndwr's 
palace stood. — 10, Corwen. 

On the hill opposite to the town 
of Corwen, is a great circle of stones 
called Y Caer Wen. 

5 j miles, from Corwen, on the road 
to Llanrwst, is Pont y Glyn, where 
there is a fine cascade. 



10 



214J 



ITINERARY. 



211 



Bala 

Corwen. — Enter the vale of Edeir- 
neon. — 2 J, Cynwyd, not far from 
whence is a cataract, called Rhaiadr 
Cynwyd. — 5J, Llandrillo. — 9|, cross 
the Dec, and pass Llanderfel. — 12, 
Lanvawr.— 13 J, Bala. 

Near Bala are the lakes. — Tommen 
y Bala, and another mount near the 
town, on which have been British 
forts. 

Go round the Lake, 12 miles, (not 
in carriages, the road will not admit 
it.) — Cross Pont Mwnwglyllyn, and 
proceed along the east side. — 4 miles, 
Llangower. — 6J, cross the Turch, and 
see the stones carried by the stream in 
a thunderstorm, in June, 1781. — 7J 5 
Llanwchllyn. — (A mile beyond is an 
ancient British fort, called Castel 



is! 



228 



212 



ITINERARY. 



Corndochon.) — 8, on right Caergai 
— 11, Llan y cil. — 12, Bala. 

Llanrhaiadr, (Montgomeryshire,) 

Bala.— 1 J, Pont Cynwyd. — 2, 
Rhiwedog. — 7, Bilker Gerrig. — 10^. 
Langynog. — 15, Llanrhaiadr. 

4J miles distant, is the celebrated 
cataract Pistyll Rhaiadr. 



Shrewsbury 

Llanrhaiadr. — 3 J, Llangedwin \il 
lage, and on the left Llangedwin 
Hall, a seat of Sir Watkin Williams 
Wynne, Bart. — 8, Llan y Blodwel.— 
10, Llanymynech. — 14, Knockin. — 
18, Nesscliffe. — 22, Montford Bridgt 
— 26, Shrewsbury. 



15 



20 



243 



269 



INDEX. 



Page 

Abergeley, a mean town • • 92 

Adaras, Dr., Master of Pembroke College, Oxford • • • • 130 

Anglesea, ancient Mona 109 

Arithmetical calculation, the habit of Johnsou's mind • • 104 

Ashbourn 17 

Aston, Mrs. Elizabeth, mentioned 4 

, some account of her . . - • 161 

Atlas, a race-horse, admired by Dr. Johnson 13 

B. 

Bach y Graig 51 

, the woods of ; 53 

— , the House of, built by Sir Richard Clough, 

described ■ 55 

1 , the parish church of 66 



214 INDEX. 

Page 
Bangor, Johnson badly accommodated there, 98 ; men- 
tioned 117 

Barnet 2 

Baron-Hill, mentioned 99 

— — —- , compared to Mount Edgecombe 100 

Batrachomyomachia, or the Battle of the Frogs and Mice 146 
Baudi Epistola quoted from by Johnson, in his Life of 

Milton 85 

Beaumaris Castle, described 100 

Bibliotheca Literaria, mentioned 89 

Birmingham 140 

Birth-daj of Johnson, his reflections upon it 157 

Blenheim 143 

Bodfari 83, 89 

Bodryddan, the former residence of the Stapyltons •.• • • 76 

Bodville, the place of Mrs. Thrale's birth 107, 109 

Boulton's manufactory, spoken of 142 

Brass-work, seen by Johnson 73 

Bridgenorth 131 

Brine, its saltness 33 

Bryant, Mr., the Duke of Marlborough's librarian 144 

Bryn o dol, Mr. Griffith's house 107 

Bulkeley, Lord, his house near Beaumaris, mentioned • • 99 



INDEX. 215 

Page 

Bulrush ten feet high • • • • •' 35 

Burke, Edmund 148 

Burleydam Chapel 37 

Buxton 31 



C. 

Caernarvon, the castle described, 103 ; mentioned 115 

Cascade, to see which, Johnson went unwillingly 77 

Chatsworth, observations on it 12, 15 

Cheese, fifteen ton bought by Bennet Langton 105 

Chester, some account of 46 

China, Johnson's opinion concerning it 133 

Chirk Castle i25 

Clough, Sir Richard, mentioned 56 

Clwyd, the river, has the character of a mountain torrent 63 

Cobb, Mrs., of Lichfield, some account of her 6 

Combermere, mentioned 35 

, the house described 45, 46 

, Lord, mentioned 35 

Congleton s3 

Congreve, said to have written his Old Bachelor in a 

grotto at Ham *2 



216 ifcDEX. 

Pa*c 
Conway, so full of company that no lodging could be 

had 95, 120 

Ferry 94 

Cookery, dilated upon by Johnson 80 

, what Johnson was fond of 174 

Copper-work, some of its operations mentioned 75 

Cotton, Sir Lynch Salusbury, mentioned 35 

, a chapel he built for his 

Tenants 37 

Coulson, Fellow of University College, Johnson's 

Gelidus 147, 184 

Cow, sold by Dr. Taylor for 126/. 166 

D. 

Dale, Mrs. 2? 

Darwin, Dr., disliked Dr. Johnson; his death 7 

Davies, Robert, of Dannerch ■ 67 

David ap Rhees, his Welsh Grammar recommended by 

Johnson to be rt published 81 

Deafness of Johnson, remarked 16 

Denbigh, some account of • 58 

, its castle • • • • * 59 



INDEX. 2J7 

Page 

Denbigh, its parish church 62 

. , servants stand to be hired on a Sunday in the 

afternoon * 124 

Derby ^ 

Diot, Mrs. 17 

D'Israeli, his Works commended 183 

Dodwell, some account of him 58 

Dovedale, some account of 18 

, described by Whateley 167 

Dudley, Earl of Leicester 60 

Dunstable 2 

Durandi Rationale, a copy sold at Dr. AskeAv's sale for 

61/. 144 

Dymerchion church 66, 69 

E. 

Elwy, the river 65 

Erasmus 17 

, distinguishes rightly between Battologiam and 

iteratione 84 

to the Nuns, full of mystic notions 90 

Evans, Evan, mentioned - 81 



218 INDEX, 



F. 



Page 
Flattery, Johnson's opinion concerning it 70 

Flint, Mr. 17 

Friendship, in life, to be without it, a wretched destitution 156 

G. 

Garrick, Peter, Johnson's remark on his natural vivacity 8 
Gelidus, the Philosopher in Johnson's Rambler, designed 

to represent Mr. Coulson, of Universit} T College, 

Oxford 131 

Gcll, Mr. 22 

Gilpin, Mr. 20 

Goldsmith, Dr., an observation of "Johnson concerning 

him SO 

Greek verses in praise of Sir Thomas More, Erasmus, 

and Micyllus 17 

Green, Mr. Richard, his Museum mentioned 5 

Griffiths, Mr., of Brjn o dol 103 

, of Kefnamwycllh 118 

Gwynn, John, the architect 129 

Gwaynynog, the house of Mr. Myddelton ... 79, 11S ; ltt 



INDEX, 219 

H. 

Page 

Hagley 135, 180 

Hartlebury 132 

Hawkestone, described 38 

Hebrides, two sbeets came to be corrected 82 

Hill, Sir Jobn, Bart, and Lord Hill, mentioned 38 

ffistoryes of Troye, a copy of, sold for 1060/. 10s. 145 

Holywell 70 

Hughes, Mr., of Kinmel, the present possessor of 

Llewenney 50 

Hypocaust, mentioned, 49 ; described 171 

I. 

Ham, description of it by Boswell 11 

, a comparison of its beauties with Hawkestone, by 

Dr. Johnson 4l 

Iron-work, some of its operations mentioned 74 

K. 
Kedleslon, some account of 23 



220 INDEX. 

Page 
Kefnamwycllh, the house of a Mr. Griffiths ••• 118 

Kilmorey, Lord, his house described 36 

Kinver 131 



L. 

Langton, Bennet, Johnson's commendation of him 29 

Lascaris's Greek Grammar, a copy sold at Dr. Askew's 

sale for Sit 10s. 145 

Leasowes • 138 

Leland 86 

Levet, Mr. Robert, written to by Johnson from 

Dewenney 92 

Lichfield, Johnson's arrives there, and visits his friends • 2 
— — — introduced into Johnson's Dictionary of the 

EngUsh language 3 

School 87 

Llanerk 109 

Llannerch, some account of 67 

Iianrhaiadr 125 

Waterfall 128 

Llewenney, mentioned 49, 83, 92 

, described by Pennant* • • • • • • &> 






IND£X. 221 

Page 
Uewenney chapel, converted into a barn 61 

Lloyd, some account of him 57 

Llangwinodyl, the parish of 107, 112 

Llwyd, Humphry, mentioned 65 

Llyn Badarn and Llyn Beris, two lakes 115 

Lyttelton, George Lord, mentions Lord Bulkeley's house 

at Baron-Hill 100 

• , Thomas Lord, mentioned 128 

, Sir Edward 137 

, William-Henry 180 

M. 

Macclesfield 32 

Maesmynnan, mentioned 87 

Manningham, Dr. 28 

Manyfold, the river, sinks into the ground 13 

Matlock, mentioned 15 

Methodists 113 

Micjllus, Jacobus 17 

Middlewich 33 

Milton, quoted 42 

Mold, mentioned • 49 



222 INDEX. 

Page 
More, Sir Thomas 17 

Myddelton, Mr., his house described 79 

, talked to Johnson about literature* • • • 81 

— = , Johnson visits him 118, 122 

, erects an urn in his park to the memory 

of Johnson • 123 



N; 



Namptwich, its salt-works • • • 33 

Newborough, Lord • 103 

Newton, Mr., of Lichfield 5 

Nuremberg Chronicle, seen by Johnson in the Chapter 

House at Worcester • • • • 133 



0. 



Oakover, mentioned « • 10 

Observations • 84 

Old Bachelor, by Congreve, said to be written at Ham* • 12 

Ombersley 132 

Opinions and Observations by Dr. Johnson 150 

Oswestry. •••••*•»»*••»•#•••••••• 127 



INDEX. 223 

Page 

Oxford 146 



P. 



Paoli, General 102, 107 

, his ficst introduction to Dr. Johnson- • • 176 

Papier Mache, how made 142 

Parker, Mr., of Brownsholme 21 

Peas, an anecdote concerning Johnson's eating them at 

Llewenney • 86 

Penmaen Mawr, described, 96 ; mentioned again 119 

Penmaen Kh6s, described 93 

Pennant, quoted 50, 55 

Phocylidis. • 86 

Pool's Hole 31 

Porter, Mrs. Lucy, the place where she lived mentioned 4 

1 some account of her by Miss Seward 1.57 

Post horses, the price of four per mile, in 1774 1 

Prestbury, the parish of 32 

Printing, early, some account of 181 

Price, who valued himself on being a great scholar 61 

Pwllheli, a mean town 114 



224 INDEX. 

Q. 

Page 
Quarry, the walk at Shrewsbury 130 

Queeny, a name given to Mbs Thrale ll« 



R. 

Riding-habit, an unbecoming dress $ 

Ruthin Castle, some account of • • • 75 



S. 

St. Asaph, its cathedral mentioned 55 

Sandys, Lard 132 

Scarsdale, Lord, mentioned 28 

Sea-water, its proportion of salt 33 

Servants hired on a Sunday at Deubigh 124 

Seward, Miss Anne 9 

, her remarks on Mrs. Lucy Porter • 157 

Mrs. Elizabeth Aston 161 

Shavington Hall, described 36 

Shenstone 139 

Shipley, Dr., Bishop of St. Asaph, mentioned 57, 85 



m 



ittDEx. 225 

Page 
Shipfey, Mr., the Dean of St. Asaph » • • • . 57, 76 

Shrewsbury 129 

Snowdon • 115 

Southwell 84. 

Streatham, the residence of Mr. Thrale 1 

Summer-house at Uewenney 65 



T. 



Taciturnity, unfavourable to friendship 155 

Taylor, Dr., of Ashbourn, mentioned i 9 

, his character 164 

Thrale, Mrs., an anecdote by her of Dr. Johnson, while 

they were at the Swan Inn in Lichfield 2 

, lost her purse • 78 

Troughton, a lieutenant in the navy 103 

Tully's Epistles, read by Johnson on his journey to 

Uewenney • » • • 2 

Tydweilliog, the parish of 107, 112 

Typha latifolia • 35 

V. 

Vansittart, Dr. Robert. 148 

Vyse, Miss, mentioned* • • • 8 



226 * INDEX. 

w. 

Page 
Walmsley, Mr. 165 

\V ashington, mentioned 81 

Wasse, remarks upon him, and his works 88 

Welsh curate, an anecdote concerning his ignorance 111 

Wenlock 130 

Wheeler, Dr. 141 

Windus' account of his Journey to Mequinez, read by 

Johnson 87 

Winifred'siVell, described *• 70 * 

Wire drawn 7-1 

Woodstock 142 

Worcester 132 

Worthington. Dr. William 106 

, Johnson dines with him 155 

Wrexham • • • ib. 

Wrottesley Hall, mentioned 36 

Wynne. Sir Thomas 103, 107 

THE END. 



PRINTED BY J. MOYES, 
Gr«ville Street, Hatton Gardea, London. 



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